The Dory Effect

Have you seen "Finding Nemo"? The animated character, Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres, has no short term memory (similar to this blog author).

World Problems
With all the over-excitement in the World today, I think the main problem is that people forget within a year any of the important historical events that should shape their views on current events.

As an example. Many folks are ignoring safe sex. They clearly forget the times of crisis (they were soeighties) and the hundreds of thousands of folks that withered and died of AIDS.

The Viet Nam war is hardly remembered at all anymore and allowed us to get in a similar situation in Iraq.

The Social Security system has been raided over the years with the federal government drawing off the excess in funding during the "good" years to fund concurrent spending and tax cuts. Those memories don't hold up to a president intent on raiding the fund in a different way today.

Even the memory of the outrage over the Clinton's stealing towels from Air Force One doesn't translate to any outrage in watching Haliburton bilk billions from you and I and worse the men and women in Iraq.

Where my theory doesn't hold up, are memories like Monica. Those will be remembered forever.

New Project
I've done very little additional work on the new knitting project. The weather up in Albany has been awful and I had forgotten how much extra time I need to allow for cleaning off a car, or driving slowly on the ice rink they call a highway takes.

But I was able to add on a few inches to the back of the garment.




That picture shows off the color very well, but not the pattern. Here's one the does the reverse.



Many folks have asked me what the yarn is that I got from WEBS, and all I know is that they had boxes and boxes of coned yarn, and in one box, they had this yarn which is deep olive (almost to the point of brown) with offwhite and orange flecks. It was marked as 100% wool and knits up nicely on a US7 needle.

It looks closest in weight and type to 2/6 Donegal Tweed listed in their Weaving Yarns section, but I don't see the color at all...perhaps the dark brown, but it looks different than the picture if that's the one.

Wandering Eye
Despite already having two primary projects (I know you can't have two primary projects...but you know what I mean), my eyes and mind have been wandering. A friend was wearing a coarse pair of hiking socks from LL Bean and I was thinking it would be a snap to whip out a pair of them. Picturing my vast yarn closet, I'm sure I must have something in there that would make a nice hiking sock.

We'll see if I've still got the urge when I get home, or if the Dory syndrome will have me focused on completely different ideas by Friday.

Two Important Causes
Two readers sent me causes that I thought were worthy of posting on the blog.

Reader Lisa sends the following:

I have started The Red Scarf Project -- if you find yourself with a little free time and some extra red yarn, I sure would love your help.

I am knitting and selling red scarves to raise money to benefit Chinese orphans. My husband and I are adopting a child from China later this year, and I am going to China this summer for a couple months to volunteer in an orphanage or group foster home. Proceeds from scarf sales will go toward my travel expenses for the volunteer trip and a financial gift to the orphanage.

You can find more information at http://lisaandjacob.com/index.cfm?template=redscarf.cfm. Please email me if you have any questions! Feel free to pass this on to any of your knitting and crocheting friends.

Thank you for your time.

Lisa Miller
gremlinperson@carolina.rr.com

Reader Liza sends this (although this letter is NOT really attributed to Bill Moyers, I still liked the idea for a protest):

A friend passed this on ... to be passed on:

Please give this letter from Bill Moyers careful attention.

Subject: Not One Damn Dime Day
From: Bill Moyers

Not One Dime Day - Jan 20, 2005

Since our religious leaders will not speak out against the war in Iraq, since our political leaders don't have the moral courage to oppose it, Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime Day" in America.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending.

During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don't spend money. Not one damn dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse purchases. Not one damn dime for nothing for 24 hours.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day," please boycott Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target...

Please don't go to the mall or the local convenience store. Please don't buy any fast food (or any groceries at all for that matter).

For 24 hours, please do what you can to shut the retail economy down. The object is simple. Remind the people in power that the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that it is their responsibility to stop it.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is to remind them, too, that they work for the people of the United States of America, not for the international corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and funnel cash into American politics.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is about supporting the troops. Now 1,200 brave young Americans and (some estimate) 100,000 Iraqis have died. The politicians owe our troops a plan - a way to come home.

There's no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left or right wing agenda to rant about. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take action by doing nothing.

You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed. For 24 hours, nothing gets spent, not one damn dime, to remind our religious leaders and our politicians of their moral responsibility to end the war in Iraq and give America back to the people.

Please share this email with as many people as possible. Commercial speech must not be the only free speech in America!

Bill Moyers