Slug Silk Purse

Slug Silk Purse, originally uploaded by tonguetyed.

This is my second project in my new sewing lessons plan. A purse! It came out pretty well. There are a couple of things I wish I had done better, but it looks pretty good. Click through the picture to see the inside of the purse. It’s pink!

Lake Michigan by Air

Flying into Chicago from NYC, originally uploaded by tonguetyed.

Another shot from the trip back to Chicago from NYC. That is ice forming on Lake Michigan! You can even see the curve of the earth at the top of the shot.

Chicago from the Air

Flying into Chicago from NYC, originally uploaded by tonguetyed.

I shot this from the airplane on my way back from New York City. You can see a sort of grass peninsula jutting out into the lake. I live just to the right (south) of that, just two blocks from the lake.

My First Zipper!

My first Zipper!, originally uploaded by tonguetyed.

Since my life is so boring right now…Freezing temps preventing good city exploration, and job searching taking up many hours a day, but only knowing a handful of people here to keep me occupied the rest of the time, I have decided to learn to do something better!

My choice of “something” is sewing! I have made in the past:

• Curtains (made of sheer slippery fabric…never again!)
• A Cookie Monster costume (tons of blue fur everywhere, but I love it!)
• Basic single fabric pillows
• A patchwork pillow

My teaching projects:

• A make-up bag which taught me to put in a zipper (very satisfying!!)

• A messenger bag style purse to teach me to put in pockets, a strap, and lining

• A pillow with piping (if I can find the piping)

• An “Envelope” pillow

• A “window” pillow

Here is the first of my teaching projects! My make-up bag! It was really fun to make, and it actually looks nice enough to use!!

The inspiration for all of this is A) Mary Beth at SupaMB…she’s always making awesome things with that sewing machine of hers! and B) This book, called S.E.W. by Diana Rupp.

Yes, We Can!

Barach Obama just won South Carolina. He didn’t just squeak through, he WON. With 96% of precints reporting, he has won with 55% of the vote. Clinton is decidedly behind him with only 27%. What a win!

I am proud of him. I am proud that this country is starting to see what I (and many in his party) first saw in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I just listened to his victory speech in South Carolina. It literally gave me chills. Goose bumps ran down my legs.

His vision of change gives me hope. It’s like buying a lottery ticket, and imagining what great things you could do with it if you were to win.  Granted, when you look at that ticket, you only see the wonderful things you could do with it, and you dismiss the negatives, but that clarity of hope is so exciting. It makes me think we COULD actually change things. We COULD actually fix our international image. We COULD actually bring people together.

I wonder if this is what it felt like to be alive during the time of Martin Luther King, Jr., or John F. Kennedy. Is this the sense of hope people had when they listened to MLK and JFK speak? The idea that Blacks would no longer be segregated? The idea that we could go to the moon within 10 years? These grand ideas would have seemed unlikely at the time, but yet hope was given to them and they were pushed forward toward completion.

If he does win, I know his presidency won’t be perfect. But the hope it gives me reminds me of the unity this country had in the days after 9-11. What if we could bring that back? What wonderful things could we do?

738 Number Plate

738 number plate, originally uploaded by tonguetyed.

This building is a few blocks from my apartment. I loved the crisp lines of the brick next to the aging number plate, next to the chipped limestone.
There are more pictures from this excursion on my flickr account. Click through!

What Path Do You Cut

It seems life just never pauses does it? No matter what you do, something pops up that was unexpected. The day before yesterday, my grandmother had a mild stroke. It was mild enough that her speech has not been affected, but for the first 24 hours, she couldn’t move her right side. Now she can, but she is weak. Too weak to walk. She is back in the hospital and it looks like she will remain so for the next 10 days. When I spoke to her yesterday she apologized, “I swear I didn’t do this on purpose, honey.” The reason she said that is that she didn’t want me to know. She told my parents that I had enough to worry about in my own life, and I didn’t need to worry about her. She made them wait most of the first day before she let them tell me anything had happened. Well, she lost, because not only do I know about it now, but I am flying up there on Saturday to be with her, and help her out for a week. She asked me, “there is no way I can stop you from coming, is there?” My response was a simple, “no.” And she quipped, “I didn’t think so!”

This time however, she is not nearly as sick as she was 2 years ago.  And it is looking like she will be able to go home in 10 days. But there are still plenty of things to take care of for her. The first thing will be to get her a new refrigerator!

My grandmother’s freezer on her 30 year old refrigerator died in July. Yes, I said July. She didn’t tell us. And neither did her nurse’s aids. The refrigerator works, but not the freezer. Apparently, she decided it wasn’t that big of a problem. Well, once we learned of it, we started asking her to get it replaced, which was followed with rounds of “I was thinking of going to look today, but it’s raining, so it will have to wait.” Uh, huh. Sure. I even told her that if she got a new refrigerator, I would ship her a bunch of great food that I would cook for her and freeze. She really liked that idea, but still, no dice.

Now that she will be in the hospital, and out of the house, guess what she’s getting this week!  My cousin, Rob, my partner in crime in New York, is a professor. He isn’t going back to class for another week, so I have recruited him for part of the week. (Although, really, in case he reads this, he actually offered after about 2 seconds of conversation…he’s a good cousin that way.) So he will be attacking the refrigerator problem with me!

And here is a question for you.  The space for a refrigerator in her apartment is small. It’s a full-sized refrigerator, but the small ones. Anyone know if there is a place to get a small side-by-side refrigerator? Do they make them small? She is tiny–4′9″. It would be nice if she could reach the things in the freezer.

So off I go to New York, prepared for anything, but hoping for the best.

Recap For the Dems

My first thoughts are how much more fun the Democrats were. They seem like they have true respect for each other and have the ability to banter with some class.

• I think Edwards won this debate. He was energetic and supportive of his own ideas, but also his opponents. Standing up for Obama was an interesting move. I think it further solidified the Obama and Edwards Change Chant. It made Hilary look whiny.

• Hilary did quite well, but she doesn’t seem to get why she isn’t this year’s definition of Change. The change the country is looking for is someone who is separated from the Washington Machine. Obama’s fresh face is the obvious first choice, but Edwards’ avoidance of lobbyists and special interests does go a long way.

• Obama did well. He seemed tired, but he deflected Hilary nicely. He shined when he said, “words CAN inspire.” Which truly is what he stands for. His words and his energy are inspiring people to believe that the government can change.

• Richards is well resumed, but I have to say, he is boring. He had one zinger of the night, but his talk just seemed to fall flat. He would make a nice vice president.

Overall, I was happy to see the Democrats discussing so many issues. I felt like the Republicans spent too much time on Iraq and left out too much about the economy, and the environment. The Dems did a nice job of getting issues in. And when Charlie Gibson didn’t mention one that a candidate felt should be included, the candidates spoke up and added it in themselves. Initiative…the first step toward Change!

It was a nice night of debates. I am glad I took the time to watch. With the field narrowing, things are starting to get interesting. Good luck New Hampshire! Make us proud!

A Little Live Blogging…

John Edwards just stood up for Obama when Hillary tried to attack saying that Obama’s health care plan left many people out (which it doesn’t really) and that he doesn’t explain his plan thoroughly. He countered saying that they had legitimate differences of opinion on the issue, but that that didn’t mean he was leaving people out of his plan or that he didn’t explain it thoroughly.

THEN, Edwards for some reason, stood up for Obama, and said he and his compadre came in first and second in Iowa because they were the candidates of change. Change being what most Iowans said they went to the caucuses looking for. And here’s the money quote:

 Any time you “fight for change, the forces of status quo are gonna attack.”

This was said while gesturing at Hillary. Ooh, snap!

There was an interesting dynamic between Edwards and Obama…Running mates anyone?

New Hampshire Debates

I am home on a Saturday night, watching the New Hampshire Debates. And I have to say, maybe I am getting old, but I am enjoying this. ABC is doing a back to back Republican and Democrat debate. Had I thought of it earlier, I would have live blogged this one, because it turned out the Republican debate was quite comment-able. Since I’m not live blogging, I will just give a few comments on the Republican debate for now.

Overall, I liked this debate format. The candidates were allowed to talk, and they were allowed to ask each other questions, and actually engage each other. Charlie Gibson did a very nice job.

• Guiliani sounds like an idiot when he doesn’t completely understand an issue. He practically makes things up. And his only real point of view is that he is the champion of 9-11.

• Huckabee sounds way to good when he doesn’t fully understand an issue. He is truly a good Bullshit Artist. He scares me.

• Romney is interesting, but if he doesn’t like a question, he throws it back at the asker or asks another of his own. Avoidance. Don’t like that. He also got picked on a lot. The other candidates see him as a big threat.

• McCain sounded pretty good tonight. He answered well, and when given the chance to compliment an opponent, he took it gracefully.

• Thompson looked both bored and condescending. When he didn’t like what Ron Paul was saying, he visibly sneered, and made childish, condescending retorts, like a drawn out “ok”.

• Ron Paul. While I think he has lost touch with what could actually work in this country, I really enjoy listening to him. He is very intelligent and really does understand what is going on under each issue with more clarity than the rest. His views are not as cut and dry as other Republicans, and I think it makes the others think he’s crazy, but when you really listen to him, he’s usually pretty right. However, he always seems like the little kid on the playground getting bullied by the Red-headed Afro Kid two grades up. (Yes, there actually was one at my school…)

Ok, time to watch the the Dems…I’ll be back with a report on them in a couple of hours. There are only 4 candidates left on the Democrat side, so this should be a different debate from the Republicans.