Rage-o-hol

Additionally, I do not hold with this notion of having two rows of aisles, so that I have to go to the middle of the store to see the signs for what is where. It is disorienting and annoying, especially since what I want (actual pharmaceuticals) is never in the front. Except when I assume it's in the back, then it's somehow up front and I'll never find it.

Back in my day, pharmacies had first aid, a prescription counter, and a candy rack! That was it! And we liked it!

I almost wish yarn were sorted by weight, then material in the store. As it is, I end up saying "wow, that color/texture is great!" but the damn label usually has "x stitches per 4 inches," not an accessible label like "DK" or "worsted." I've even memorized the WPI of fingering, sport, worsted and bulky, but that rarely helps. I don't want to have to memorize gauges. Maybe I could make a cheat card for my wallet.

Anyway, back to the problem: I have two to five balls of each of these gorgeous yarns, and no effing idea what to make. I tried Raveling the yarns, no dice on any suggested patterns being stuff I like and can make with the quantity I have. I tried going through my queue and favorites, which are full of fingering and worsted projects. Gah!

Related: I have some homespun which is roughly a sport/DK weight but is very, um, "artsy." That's a good simile for uneven, right? I have no idea what to make. I'm using the worsted to bulky stuff for a cowl in simple stockinette.

Current Mood:

cranky

First, the actual meaning of the term: it points out that anyone could acquire a disability at pretty much any time. A car accident, an illness, and suddenly a formerly non-disabled person has a disability that affects their ability to perform daily tasks.

When you think of "temporarily able bodied" instead of "able bodied," it makes you realize that you or anyone you know could someday need those accommodations being requested by those people with disabilities. It would make one think twice before objecting to the cost or aesthetic impact of wheelchair ramps, ATMs with voice assistance for the visually impaired, or other accommodations. After all, there is a pretty decent chance that you or one of your friends is going to need one of those accommodations eventually, even if none do now.

It also drives home that people with disabilities aren't some different, alien species from "normal" people. We're all just people, some currently with fewer handicaps than others, but it could all change at any time.

I only realized in thinking about writing this post that for most of my life I have actually thought of myself as temporarily able bodied. Not that I'm some amazing progressive who invented the idea or anything. More like, in fifth grade my optometrist told me that if my eyesight kept worsening at this rate I'd be blind by the time I was 25, and that summer my kneecaps started dislocating spontaneously. I've spent at least 6 months using a wheelchair over three episodes of knee problems, though luckily none since seventh grade. And, my eyes stopped worsening in early high school, so far I'm not blind. But I'm certainly pretty aware that I'm temporarily able bodied, and I really like the term now that I've thought about it.

ETA: After a bit of research, I find that a LOT of banks are hiking interest rates on credit cards, possibly so they can sell securities on them like they did on mortgages before that got a bad rap. Seriously, dudes? I think I'm going to just keep my money in my damn mattress. It's the only way not to buy into this ass-backwards system and let people use my money for ends of which I heartily disapprove. I'm at least going to go all retro and re-start writing checks instead of paying with credit cards.

E(again)TA: I had a thought: Islamic or Shariah banking does not charge interest. There are various workarounds which may or may not come down to really charging interest, but there does seem to be a moral principle at the core of not actually taking customers for everything they're worth. I'm doing some research on availability. And coming across absolutely rabidly fearful articles I can't even make sense of proclaiming that the US treasury is going to follow shariah law on something or other as a partial fix for the financial crisis and OMG next we'll all be wearing burquas and be filthy muslims! I find it hard to have compassion for such fearmongers.

Lest you think I exaggerate, within walking-to-dinner distance of my house, I am aware of the following Korean Restaurants off the top of my head: Color, Buk Kyung, Korean Garden, and the one that moved in where Subvarmumblemumble Kiri used to be. Three of those are within eyesight of each other, the fourth is less than 1/4 mile away. So, also, attention Allston restauranteurs: get us some decent Chinese, and knock it off with the Korean food! And brink back my Cambodian and Malaysian, while you're at it. And, if you even think about getting rid of the Burmese or the Himalayan, I will get violent.

I always find the "where shall we go for dinner" conversation amusing, because the local choices are Vietnamese, Indian, Burmese, Himalayan, or burgers at the Sunset. I guess southeast Asia is just better at food than everybody else.

Did something change in the sitcoms themselves that made them less appealing to me? Did I become more white in my TV preferences? Certainly the choices decreased, there were fewer actual shows to watch. In putting real thought into this, I realized that currently I'm not watching *any* sitcoms. And a few years ago when I lived alone and watched a fair amount of TV, I still only watched a couple sitcoms, the only one I'm remembering being Ugly Betty.

I'm pretty sure that in fact it's sitcoms I hate, as they're about as highly stylized as a Japanese Noh play. Think about it: they all reuse the same tired plot devices (e.g. mis-hearing or making a mistake and trying to hide it), they have ridiculous conventions about how people behave that bear no resemblance to reality, and if one had no previous experience watching them and just was dropped into the audience, one would have *no idea* what was going on.

However, I also don't watch any other types of shows with more than a token person of color (typical TV show cast appears to be the smart (white) guy, the dumb (white) guy, the woman, and the POC. Because, of course, the default person is a white guy, so any deviance from white and guy is a special trait, and god forbid we have the smart one be a woman of color, or something! All the stereotypes would get their lines crossed!). Are there good shows out there with casts primarily of people of color? Recommendations appreciated!

So a thin blond woman in cutoffs and a midriff-baring flannel shirt is putting together a tent. Two guys are watching and directing. They read from what appear to be directions, "insert large rod in hole." She puts the pole through a loop on the tent. I cringe, because I'm pretty sure of where this is going. "Now take it out again." She looks puzzled but does so. I look around for something to throw at the monitor when the guy's next line comes, because I no longer have any doubt where this is going. "Now put it in again. Now take it out. See if you can get two rods in there!" The girl figures it out and walks off disgusted. I scream incoherently. The announcer says, "the show that will help you pitch a tent."

See also: Girls Gone Wild ads, which have aired during the Daily Show on TV for the whole time I've been watching it. Whatever ad I vaguely remember ranting about a month or two ago. And basically every stand-up comedian they've ever booked.

The tomato sauce is cooling in jars. I got 10 lbs of tomatoes when I'd wanted 20, but I could tell there was no way I'd get 20 home without crushing them utterly in my granny cart. Note to self, save some flat cardboard boxes or borrow some fish buckets. Fish buckets really are insanely useful. Anyway, 10 lbs of tomatoes made 4 1/2 pints of sauce. Not a huge amount, but I was really over the tomato peeling process by the time I finished these anyway, so it worked out for the best. Only about 1/4 of my kitchen was covered in tomato, and I wiped it up immediately so no dried on tomato guts for me!

Bought pumpkins to cook and freeze as well, but instead of going overboard with five like last year, I bought two. I may indeed go through them quickly, in which case there's still plenty of time to buy more. But I don't want to hit August and be thinking, "damn, what can I make with pumpkin to use this stuff up?" Really, by about January, I'm mostly done with pumpkin. But I can't wait to make pumpkin pecan pie. And I'm pretty excited about pumpkin muffins. And streusel-topped pumpkin bread.

I bought a few apples and tomatoes to snack on, but managed to keep it to a couple pounds. I think I'm ready for the farmshare tomorrow! And I think I'll get over wishing I'd bought 4 pears so I could make pear cobbler with cranberry crumble topping. I can buy pears next week. Really. (Cranberry crumble topping! I love crumble toppings! A lot!)