Cats on Tuesday

Stubbles loves cardboard boxes. This came in the mail, and she was planted on it less than 20 minutes later. Love of cardboard is her quirk.
Ditto has many quirks. But the cutest one, as well as the source of most of her trouble, is the fact that she is curious. Very curious, in fact.
Sometimes quirks collide. What is in this box? Did I just see it move?
Surprise! Stubbles is in the box! Ditto, you gave away her hiding spot!
Its no use hiding if everyone knows where you are.

When Ditto is not busy foiling all of Stubbles well thought out plans, she likes to play. She especially loves her feather stick. Everytime someone bumps it enough to make it jingle, she comes running.Thats a mean kitty face.
You would think all that playing would work off some of her big squishy belly...


Nope.

Injustice and freezing

We were supposed to have a horrible bout of freezing rain and sleet today. We got it, but it didn't last long enough to do any damage. Kids were sent home from school a couple of hours early, and my roommate got off work early. But really, the only danger was if you had to go on bridges or overpasses. I was going to take pictures of the meager ice, but forgot until it got dark. So here is the most ice there is at this point, hanging from the gutter:
There was also a good amount of ice in the azaleas in front of the house, from the dripping gutters. However at this late hour this is the best shot I can get. But you get an idea of the pathetic way Arkansans wish and wish for a real winter. Well, this Arkansan.I am very jealous of Obsidian Kitten, her farm is beautiful. I am sure all that snow can be tiring, though.

On to other thoughts. I am taking a course on beginning Standard Arabic this semester, I am very excited. We are learning the written alphabet along with the verbal part, which of course makes sense. There are two more letters than our alphabet, but the language over all seems to make more sense than English. Well, its also backwards, which is taking time to getting used to writing. I am getting the impression that the alphabet isn't letters so much as sounds in Arabic. The instructor, a native Palestinian, wrote everyone's name on the board in Arabic, doing so phonetically. My name is rather pretty, the "h" sound is all curly.
Soon maybe I can watch al Jazeera and know what they are really saying. Also along the topic of the Middle East is one of my classes, Cultures of the Middle East. So far it is fascinating, the instructor is an archaeologist who does work in Yemen. We had several small books assigned, one being "Baghdad Diaries" by Nuha al-Radi. It is so interesting. This woman is smart, funny, and very opinionated. At the same time, the further I get into this book the worse I feel. Most of this was written in the nineties, starting when she chronicled everyday of Desert Storm. I am almost finished, she only wrote a small part concerning the current conflict, a couple of pages written in the days leading up to the invasion. The book has informed me not only of life in Baghdad, but has highlighted even more reasons why war makes NO DAMN SENSE. The people punished aren't the ones who did whatever the attacker didn't like. It would be like if my home was bombed by Iraqis, even though I marched in one of the protests against the war in 2003. I have also learned some history I did not know. For instance, when the Lewinsky scandal was going on, the Clinton administration bombed Iraq for four days. For the same reason Bush got us into the current war, the so-called "weapons of mass destruction". Maybe it was only four days, but at least 68 Iraqis, innocent civilians, were killed. Also, the embargo forced on Iraq during the nineties tore the country apart. Embargoes are useless. While people were starving and went without, I am sure Saddam never lacked for dumb berets or ugly green military suits. Why would we do such a thing to people? Why do we get away with hurting other countries time after time after time? We do all these things to people, but other countries feel sorry for us when things like 9/11 happen. Of course those people were just as innocent. But maybe the killing of innocents was why were attacked in the first place. Our government certainly doesn't deserve any pity, and some fanatic nationalists in this country should take more time to pity innocent civilians in other countries instead of talking about bombing away the existence of an entire nation, referring to people with their ethnocentric racial slurs. Why does our government becomed so outraged when we are struck when they act like bombing and civilian murder is a national pastime? I feel so hurt, enraged, confused, and sick. Britain is just as guilty as we are. Blair was up to his neck in it when the Clinton administration bombed Iraq for those four days.

Well I don't want to leave off on that. I got paid today so I am probably going to Yarn Mart tomorrow to find yarn for my Pratchghan square. I think I will finish "Baghdad Diaries" tomorrow. I have about 50 pages left, but I obviously need a break. I am going to concentrate on Natalie's baby blanket for now. Knit happy.

Okay, well, its midnight and no longer Tuesday, but I promise I started compiling this at 10:30! Not many pictures of my cat Stubbles, she just sleeps and its boring. My roommate's cat Ditto is more amusing, therefore has lots of pictures. Enjoy the cheesiness.

Catching back up.

Overhaul, overhaul. I haven't kept up with this like I thought I would. I started around the time for finals, and haven't picked it back up. However, I am a bit less busy this time around, and have been wanting an outlet for bragging when I start a new project, buy some new yarn, etc. So I have overhauled and redone this page. I have also changed my major since then, going from biology to anthropology. I am much happier, and have found a better fit. The people in the biology department are mostly premed (YUCK) and mostly uptight. I feel so at home with the weirdos in the anthropology department.
Of course, I can list my new projects, yarn, etc on Ravelry, but its not the same. Don't get me wrong, I love Ravelry. But this outlet is for venting as well, heh.
On Ravelry I have joined a group called the Knitters Guild, its for fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Recently it was found that he has early onset Alzheimers. This is heartbreaking, the man is a genius. However, this group is creating a "Pratchghan" , and I get to be part of it! I am pretty excited, but I really need to get started. I need to mail the square off by the middle of February. We are also sending him personal letters with the afghan. Squee! How exciting to write him and send a gift. I think its a good idea for everyone to show how much he means to us.

Well, I may as well post up the FO I did recently. It is the fidget from the tudora pattern in Winter 2007 Knitty. I kind of misread the pattern, so I didn't cable as much, but I still think its lovely. I made it with Sylvia's yarn she recieved from Knitters Uncensored Podcast contest, its called Woolmeise in the color Spice Rack. Its made from lambswool, its simply beautiful. I loved working with it. I finished the tudora in one night, and then we picked up the awesome bone\horn button at Hancock's the next day. I made it for Sylvia, look how much she likes it.

I am also working on a baby blanket for my friend Natalie, who is set to give birth in February (the 12th I think). I don't want to post unfinished work just yet, and am about 70% done. Hopefully I will have that finished by the end of this week, and can post it up. Actually, I think I am going to do a little work on it right now. Knit like you mean it!