January 26, 2007
Agoraphobia 101
(Posting will be a little bit hit-and-miss next week, Dear Readers, since I will be in and out of classes.)
The possibility that we will be meeting new blog readers at Madrona has me remembering an incident from a couple of years ago when a knitter—a regular blog reader who commented at least once a day, perhaps twice, without fail, for months—met me for what I thought was a perfectly pleasant lunch...and immediately stopped reading the blog. From that moment forward, not a peep. Yowza. Doesn’t do much for one’s ego. Or for one’s desire to have a blog. Or leave the house. Or get out of bed. Or bathe. Or complete hair-lice treatment. However, anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m hugely, almost annoyingly, extroverted (at Ferals I’ve been known to halloo across the wide and long table instead of chat ladylike with the well-mannered colleens to my left and right) and I doubt that that one hoomiliatin’ experience will affect my approach to socializing at Madrona. If you introduce yourself and I immediately vanish behind TMK, do my best imitation of a “wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,” and whisper nervously in her ear, whiskers all aquiver, trust me—all façade, all pure, Grade-A BS. If you know me, and you see me do this, feel free to haul me out from behind TMK, slap me upside the head, and say, “Quit that. Let’s go shopping.” That should do the trick.
As for the party animals who are planning on dropping by for martinis at midnight, don’t be surprised to find your names writ large with a Sharpie on the Do Not Disturb sign. Yeah, you. (Of course, now I am having visions of a PJ-and-hot-chocolate party. Somebody stop me.)
With almost 50% of the vote, apparently an Abbdar is a hat, with “scarf” a very distant, speck-on-the-horizon second. I suspect this means that even if I had been a better pollster and had remembered to include vests, ponchos, shawls, stoles, shrugs, wrist warmers, neck warmers, afghans, pillows, placemats, potholders, tea cozies, bookmarks, washcloths, dishcloths, placemats, doilies, rugs, and felted bowls on the list of choices, "hat" would still have won. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
So, next poll, next question:
Dulaan Business
I have promised F.I.R.E. that I will post a shout-out to let the Dulaaners know that F.I.R.E. is trying to send three containers this year instead of the usual two (which translates, I think into a shipping cost of $60,000 instead of $40,000), which means that they can use all the baksheesh they can scare up. On the one hand, in all a’y’alls defense, I’ve reminded F.I.R.E. that the knitters already contribute plenty through the cost of the yarn, the cost of mailing the items, and the intangible cost of many hours spent knitting. On the other hand, I’m not adverse to mentioning that if you happen to have $5 burning a hole in your pocket, they could certainly use it. That, and I do frequently get emails from people saying they can't or don't want to knit but do want to know where to send money, so here's the info: You can donate online here or mail a check to F.I.R.E., 107 N San Francisco Street, Suite 4, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001-5243.
'Nuff said. You all rock. Back to knitting. Don't forget the fleece blankets!
Sometimes lurkers stalk you and find you and become regular company of you, with never a thought of running away. Please keep your ego intact, it was obviously THEIR problem.
Posted by: Elaine on January 26, 2007 10:34 AMI'd totally hug the crap out of you and embarrass myself by getting all weepy.
Wish I could go :-(
Posted by: Lee Ann on January 26, 2007 10:54 AMYou must have had a booger or something.
I voted for brights, but I must qualify that by saying that brights should be neon earth tones. Not subdued rust and browns and gold, but like the color of goldenrod paper that sears your eyes.
THAT is what an Abbdar is. (Although, just maybe, an Abbdar is a felted bowl, for HOLDING your powdered spices and things you use to dye things screaming neon earth tones. Yeah, that's the ticket.)
I'm planning on going to Madrona on Saturday. It's a bit of a drive for me though, so it'll probably be early afternoon or so.
Posted by: Christina on January 26, 2007 11:40 AMYou know my mantra: People are weird. Your experience simply confirms it.
You don't strike me as shy and retiring...Ryan is the woman who, when "met" through an online queer knitting message list, said "I'll help you learn to knit socks!!" A state away, never met me, and here she was offering to help me knit socks. Not shy and retiring, that.
Course, I was smitten cause I thought "Mizz Ryan" was a nice queer boy, lol. Eh, I still like you - even if you aren't a nice queer boy. ;-P
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on January 26, 2007 12:48 PMOh God. It wasn't me, was it? Was it me? If it was I'm terribly sorry you thought that!! I dropped right off the whole knitting blog world for a while and now I'm just getting up and back on. Being pregnant and having a baby does weird things to a girl. Makes me think you knew something a long time ago never to find youself here ;).
Anywho, I'm back and reading, just haven't commented on anyone's blog yet...that comes next my dear. And now I have to meet you AND TMK, for I'm now a spinning fool. I bought a Kromski and she's my new guilty little pleasure. I'm stopping by the Madrona fiber fest for an hour or two tomorrow just to see the venders and spend some of the hubby's hard earned cash. I waited too late to sign up for classes & the ones I wanted were all full. I hope to see you guys there!!
Posted by: sam on January 26, 2007 07:16 PMp.s. You are very sweet & normal in person and I had a lovely lunch with you.
And I didn't see any boogers.
Can you tell I'm terribly embarassed you might have thought that?
Posted by: sam on January 26, 2007 07:27 PMNow, now, see there?
I'd also totally hug the crap outta ya, and possibly even whap you upside the head (gently) and grab the two of you to go shopping!
You are, bar none, the best, most entertaining and enjoyable writer in knitting blog land. Ergo you must be one of, if not the best, most entertaining and enjoyable people here as well!
I would likely not introduce myself to a blogger I might see and recognize but I would definitely stand in what I am sure would be a line up to say "Hi" and "thanks for all the laughs and inspiration" to you and TMK!
Posted by: Marie on January 27, 2007 04:47 PMI don't see a place to click to vote for Abbdar as a Mesopotamian warlord.
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on January 28, 2007 06:55 AMHello there! This is Erica, the one who met you yesterday and was dragging David with her. I just wanted to say hello and thanks for being so welcoming to a random stranger who wanted to stare at the spinners... I had a lovely time and will be posting the picture of you and my Dublin Bay sock this afternoon :)
Posted by: EricaLynn on January 28, 2007 10:28 AMI think I saw you in the marketplace, zipping past, out of the corner of my eye. But I was, shall we say, not at my best that day? I should not have been in public at all. You know how it goes.
Then I thought I might have seen TMK spinning in the lobby, but I wasn't 100% sure, because I'm terrible at recognizing people. And I just was not strong enough to walk up to someone who may or may not have been a total stranger and say "Hi, do I know you?"
So, uh, if you saw me, I was totally not dissing either of you, I swear! Social situations are just not my forte.
Posted by: Erika on January 28, 2007 07:38 PMIn my opinion Abbdar is the colors of the socks that rock pictured above.
Posted by: Naomi on January 29, 2007 12:49 PM