September 2006

Photo © Jennifer Kogut 2006

“To be free people we must assume total responsibility for ourselves, but in doing so must possess the capacity to reject responsibility that is not truly ours. To be organized and efficient, to live wisely, we must daily delay gratification and keep an eye on the future; yet to live joyously we must also possess the capacity, when it is not destructive, to live in the present and act spontaneously.”

- M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

Even though I have been neglecting Knit-the-Classics and the various other “Alongs,” I think I’m going to take advantage of wonderful Lolly’s Soctoberfest to start into another pair of socks next month! Wanna join too? Check it out by clicking on the photo!

Check out the knitting books at Powells.com.

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

But of course!

I’m in North Carolina visiting my paternal grandmother, aunt and cousin.  It’s been an interesting trip so far, very mellow and yet with all the attendant family disappointments appearing.  Ah, families…

I have been regaled by my Polish Babcia (grandma)’s stories of wartime in Poland and Germany, how she was shot while traveling on a train with other college-aged young women, and later how she was picked up on the street by German soldiers and sent to Germany to work there, taking the place of one of the millions of Germans who were at the front.  And later, how she immigrated to the U.S. with her husband, two children, and a couple of suitcases.  It’s putting it lightly to say this is one lady who has lived through it all.  She says “Polish ladies are strong.”

I return to Seattle on Tuesday evening, but I think I’ve got a couple almost-complete posts I could wrap up and submit in the meantime for anyone waiting with baited breath (any of you three regular readers worried?)!

Meanwhile in blogland, the wonderful Flickr plugin seems to have broken so the My Photos link in the top right doesn’t work right now.  There is a fix already, but since I’m not at home I haven’t been able to implement it.

Original weblogs were collections of interesting links.  Here’s my traditional version today.

• The Cloud Appreciation Society is my kinda thing! They “love clouds, we’re not ashamed to say it and we’ve had enough of people moaning about them.” Yes!! Check it out for the beautiful photos if nothing else. And their bittersweet manifesto. And of course there is the Flickr Beautiful Clouds Pool if you need more convincing that clouds are incredible.
• The Canary Project features photographs of “landscapes around the world that are exhibiting dramatic transformation due to global warming.” Their mission is “to use these photographs to persuade as many people as possible that global warming is already underway and of immediate concern.”
• Happy in Denmark? The BBC recently reported that Denmark residents are the happiest in Europe. They cited health levels as the strongest indicator of happiness, followed by prosperity and education. The US ranked 23rd.
• If the health has it, then of course the US is a ways down the list: we don’t have universal health care. The Fall 2006 YES Magazine highlights the issue of universal health care and prints pretty persuasive stats showing how more and more folks are falling through the cracks of our employment-based health care system.  “An estimated 50 million Americans lack medical insurance, and a similar and rapidly growing number are underinsured.[…] Of the more than 1.5 million bankruptcies filed in the U.S. each year, about half are a result of medical bills; of those, three-quarters of filers had health insurance.” They also have a great chart comparing different country’s health care approaches and how much those cost per capita (the U.S. system is more than twice that of Canada and covers a far smaller percentage than their plan). More>>
• At least someone’s doing something positive about that depressing war thing — You can now buy Bring Them Home Now postal stamps on-line. Yes, real postage stamps, because of the new USPS program where you can design your own custom stamp.  Proceeds benefit veterans’ groups.  Yes, I truly support our troops and I want them brought home safe and sound now.
• To end with a light note, check out Ball of Dirt, the “world’s largest travel social network.” Travelers can post photos and stories of their journeys.

We return to our regular programming after I get back home!