I'm Not Usually This Bothered

Every time I see a "Yes on 8" ad, my blood starts to boil. I try not to be political on the blog. That's not what you come here for. And most of my views aren't usually too popular here in California. But on this topic, I just cannot hold my tongue. Proposition 8 would ban marriage between same sex couples in California. Honestly, I can't figure out why this is necessary.

Love is love. Simple as that. My marriage to Brian has nothing to do with the State of California or even the church. It is a commitment we made to each other. Why shouldn't everyone be allowed to make that commitment to the person they love.

The Yes on 8 campaign is running ads about how we'll have to teach our children about gay marriage in school. So? What's so bad about that? What's so terrible about teaching your children to accept lots of different people as they are? I really wish someone would explain it to me since I cannot even see part of your argument. The courts ruled on "separate but equal" decades ago. Civil partnerships are not enough. Having two different names for marriage is inherently discriminatory.

In fact, here are a bunch of questions I think anyone voting yes on 8 should think about deeply before voting.

1. Why do you care who someone else loves? Isn't the world better with more love in it?
2. Why would teaching your children that there are many versions of love be a bad thing?
3. Why can't you see denying same sex couples the right to marry is the same as banning inter-racial marriage? Surely you wouldn't think to back a ban on inter-racial marriage in this day in age.
4. How can you possible be "in defense of marriage" but be attacking people who are willing to pledge their lives to each other? I would think lowering the divorce rate would be a more worthy cause.
5. I realize you may have "moral" objections to homosexuality. But doesn't your morality require equality over discrimination even though you may disagree?

All I ask is that those who are leaning toward voting yes on 8 really think about these questions. Then vote your conscience.

I hope your heart leads you to vote no on 8.

A Little Indulgence

So far, October hasn't been the best month at Control the Clutter. I decided I'd done so well in September that I could make a little Knit Picks purchase. And well, they had a great book sale going and there's been some yarn I've been looking at... you know the rest.



Imagination Sock Yarn- Lost Boys



Imagination Sock Yarn- Frog Prince



Imagination Sock Yarn- Wicked Witch

This yarn is 50% Superwash Merino, 25% Alpaca, and 25% Nylon. It's very, very soft! And I really dig the fairytale names they're using. At $4.99 a skein, it's a steal.

More on the books and my most recent projects later this week.

Today is my first day on pm shift. That's 3-11 this evening. I'm currently watching the new Indiana Jones while Brian makes breakfast. Much better than my 4:45 am wake up call yesterday. I have a feeling this sleeping later thing is going to work out just fine!

Stripey Number One

Check these out!!! I just finished the first of my socks from yarn I dyed.



Aren't they cute?!?!?!?!



They're even cuter on! I'm giving away my photography secret. 1 breakfast in bed tray with a white background. It's my WT version of a light box.



Here's the stripe sequence. Since the yarn was double knit when dyed, the second should come out the same as the first. I hope! I'm going to cast on later today. Thanks for the dyeing lessons, Scout! I love how these are knitting up.

Here's a peek at the latest Yarn Pirate Booty Club shipment. So pretty!!! This might want to be something other than socks...

Win, Win

Kristy was doing a raffle to support her Chicago AIDS run/walk efforts. 100% of the funds she raised went to providing free civil legal aid to those with HIV/AIDS. A good cause with even better prizes...

And I was lucky enough to get picked as a winner!



A Piddleloop bag that represents the number of people affected by AIDS with red ribbon trim.



A view from the top. It's the perfect size to hold a sock project. And, of course, you always get top notch quality from Piddleloop.

Finally... There was yarn.



Wollemeise- Rosenrot. Oh so lovely!

Thanks to Kristy for a great prize. But more importantly for supporting a great cause.

A Great Yarny Day

This past Tuesday, I had the day off from work. And the stars lined up so that I got to see two good friends.

First meet up was with Ruth. She and I have been blog friends for awhile but we've never met in person. Her HS reunion was in Clovis over the weekend and she was flying out on Tuesday from San Francisco. So her mom and I tag teamed the 3 hour trip. We met in Dublin at one of my favorite breakfast places. Yumm! After we were fortified with coffee and bacon we headed for the airport. But we did manage a picture.



Ruth's on the left. Me on the right. Some poor, unsuspecting breakfaster was nice enough to comply with the picture requests.

And Ruth was sweet enough to leave me with a couple of gifts.



Red Rocks Fiber Works Aspen Sock Yarn in New Aspen Tree. Very pretty, soft, and local to Denver where Ruth lives.



She also made me one of her great stitch saver keychains with my name on it! You can snag one from her here. Thanks, Ruth!!!! Hopefully next time we can meet up for longer than a couple of hours. :)

Then, I headed back to Oakland to pick up my friend Elena from nursing school. She and I had a big vent about new job tension and feeling like idiots. Just what we needed!

She'd never been to Imagiknit and it was a beautiful day to be in the City. Over the Bay Bridge we went. The staff at Imagiknit was super helpful and patient. Elena picked out a bunch of projects for Christmas presents. I picked up yarn for a Super Secret Project. (My sister can't/shouldn't peek on ravelry!) With our yarn bags full we walked over to BiRite Creamery. Salted caramel and creme fraiche ice cream.... YUMMY!!!! It was such a great time, we even had free street parking.

Wanting to beat the traffic out of SF and not having quite our fill of yarn store, we went back to take a look at Article Pract. I picked up some gorgeous Prism lace weight that's destined to be a Hanami. See... pretty, huh?



I'm not a pink girl. So purple will be a really nice substitute.

What a fun and relaxing day! I really needed it.

My First Football Game

Last Sunday, my nursing friend Tiffany invited me to the 49er game. I'd never been to a professional football game. I had no idea what I was in for. Her Dad has season tickets- Score! We left at 8:30 from her house to tailgate for a 1pm game. Apparently, the true fans take this seriously!



They have dedicated tailgate supplies.



Three hours before the game was starting, the party was well underway.



Our tailgate neighbors even had a beer bong. Yikes!



This little kids wagon was transformed into a stereo blasting hip hop and a beer filled cooler on top. It was HILARIOUS!



Stacey, Lauren, and Tiffany in their 9er gear. After a couple of bloody mary's and burgers, we were headed into the stadium.



It was a perfect day; not too cold. That's pretty rare at CandleStick Park.



Here come the 49ers!



The 9er noise drum core.



Banjo Joe



Even though the 49ers lost, we had a great time!

Three Day Weekend

This week I happen to have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. It's so nice. Brian had yesterday off too. So we went to San Francisco for lunch. There's a little street called Belden Alley that has nothing but great restaurants on it. They all have outdoor seating and there are white lights strung across the alley so it's very romantic and lovely. We chose Belden Taverna since we hadn't been there before. Yum! I had Chipotle Pappardelle pasta. Brian had Halibut. It was such an indulgence to have a bottle of wine and sit outside in the San Francisco sunshine.

I've also had some time to knit on my Socktober socks.



They're coming out really neat. I turned the heel on the first one yesterday. Maybe I can finish it up this weekend but we'll see. There's a birthday party and a 49er game to go to in the next couple of days.

Hope you're having a great weekend too!

One Month Down

Today is the 1 month mark for Control the Clutter. It really hasn't been easy. And I didn't do as well as I had hoped. But there are definitely times I put things back on the shelves because I knew I shouldn't buy them.

There were non-need purchases. A new alarm clock, bottle of perfume, and books. All of those were purchased on gift cards from work. So very little money was spent. The books will go up on PBS when I'm done. But still, I didn't need them. No extra chap sticks have been purchased. And no yarn. (Sock clubs and already purchased but not yet received yarn excluded.) I'm finding Netflix and PBS a huge help with this endeavor. Entertainment that doesn't cause clutter and doesn't cost any more than what I've already budgeted makes it easier to say no to that shiny magazine at the grocery checkout.

But I can do better. So I'm going to extend this another month. Although, there may be a 1 hour reprieve today because there's a huge book sale at KnitPicks. I'm not made out of wood, you know!

Just so there's no post without a picture. Check out Brian and his brother as kids.



Pretty cute, huh? That's Brian on the left. What a ham!

Recovery

Don't take the title the wrong way, I haven't checked myself into Hazelton or Promises, Malibu just yet. The fact is I still haven't completely gotten used to getting up at 5:30 am for work. Throw my Dad and going out to wonderful dinners all week and I've literally been recovering all weekend. I've slept at least 8 hours each night AND napped for 2-3 hours a day. Trust me, I could sleep even more but I realize it's getting ridiculous! I love having my Dad here but it really wipes me out!

It took me all day yesterday to catch up on blogs and comments. Today I have been reading and doing laundry. My life is so exciting!

Besides, I had the third book of the Twilight series, Eclipse, to keep me awake. It's just as good as the first one. Love it! Just finished this evening. And it's all I can do to not dive into the 4th one this minute. That will have to wait as I have a case study to present for work tomorrow.

I apologize for the ridiculously boring post. Good thing I have a pretty yarn picture to balance it out.



Zen Yarn Garden Squooshy Sock Yarn- Adriatico

I won a contest celebrating her 4th blogaversary over at NotScarlett's Blog. The colors are so soft and lovely. And the yarn itself is super squishable! Thanks so much, NotScarlett!!!!

OK- I'm pretty sure I can't delay the inevitable work any longer.

Excuse My Language

But... FUCK YEAH!!!! Only 13 years too late.
Have fun in jail, asshole.