The Music Under his Feet

Savion Glover.
I was able to attend his "Bare Soundz" performance here in Tucson last night.

I witnessed Grace.
Humor. Joy.
Rhythm (of course).
Stamina - amazing stamina. 
Clever. Charming.
Flow. Energy - Tap Jazz.
Shared Joy.
Experience and innovation.

Honor and Gratitude - shared by Mr. Glover with the generous sponsors, the two gentlemen with whom he shared the stage: Marshall Davis Jr. and Keitaro Hosokawa, the stage crew, the sound-man (!), Mr. Gregory Hines, the ushers, the pre-show Tap Performers in the Centennial Hall courtyard, and shared with the audience (which happened to include Mr. Ben Vereen(!) {who inspired a special song from Mr. Glover!}).
Here's a small sampling of what I was gifted with last night: Savion Glover on the Colbert Report.

(Yes, some of my knitting was imbued with last night's rhythm: The Einstein Coat, The Birds Nest Shawl, and a stray green hat I pulled from the UFO pile.)

I told my husband I'm kinda in love with another man...

He was pretty good about it...and he understands.
He didn't even laugh at me!

We just finished watching the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on Comedy Central.
I told the DH that I was kind of in love with Jon Stewart for what he'd just done/said.

Yes, I expect it was an excellent advertising gimmick.
And tomorrow or even tonight, I expect we'll hear a great deal about how many people were watching (or are belatedly watching it online or as a rebroadcast).

But it was grand and funny and a kind reminder to folks to pause in the rampant "The Sky is Falling" antics/panic.

I first heard about this event via a Cafe Press e-mail offering "Restore Sanity"/"Keep Fear Alive" t-shirts (Yep - marketing and souvenir sales...).
My initial response to the Cafe Press ad was a confused look/ "What the ???" - but I tracked it down and was not too surprised to see Stewart/Colbert were up to something interesting.

I do enjoy watching both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" - although I don't get to watch as often as I'd like.
When I do get to watch, I find them intelligent, charming, ironic, fun, clever, silly, sane/insane, respectful-or-not, but always thought-provoking.

And...their shows can be an educational opportunity.
As was today's pundit/comedic Rally.

I say "Well Done" to Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert!!
"Well Done" to all the people who performed, wrote, created, supported, and pulled off this larger-scale reminder that:

• It's not all bad news
• It's not all news-worthy
• Generalizations/Stereotypes work best in humor or fiction and not necessarily in real life
• Humor can help people pause in learned-loathing habits to possibly reconsider/grow
• We do need to vote/be aware/be responsible
• Irony can be sweet or sour
• "Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves - for we shall never cease to be amused". 

 Please have a lovely weekend and revel in humor, irony, intelligence, and the gift that it is to be a free citizen of the world.

Tuesday is election day.

You may think that a single vote doesn't count... 

but they're All single votes - and they add up.  

Barber Shop Intern?

Cheap entertainment for the day: The DH got a home hair cut set and asked me to cut his hair.
(Possibly not considering that I am extra sleep deprived just now. {wry grin})

We setup on the back porch and I cut his hair - shorter on the sides, longer on top using the attachments that came with this have-yer-wife-do-it-herself kit. Trimmed the hairs on his neck and around his ears.

My first time cutting anyone's hair - ever. And it wasn't bad!
He went inside to check and came out correctly noting the curve of his head on the side that was away from me was a little teeny bit "bushy". (He'd setup up his chair against a table and the cord and my short arms didn't reach as well on that side.)
I'm game for a re-trim so we moved the chair, reapplied the longer cutting tool and I trimmed.

And it seemed like a lot came off.
E'yep, I'd put on the shorter attachment - he now has the equivalent of a military "bowl" cut.

He took it VERY well and we both laughed. I told him it was Karma - he could tell his younger brother it's payback for the time when DH shaved his brother's head bald when they were little boys.

He wants me to try cutting it again in a few weeks. He's a brave, sweet man.

Hmmm - maybe a little too short on top...

Love 'dem Kitties, 'deed I do..."HEY - stop that!!..."

I think it is safe to say that Los Gatos are a prime source of entertainment 'round here:

Sink-Bed.

I wish I'd gotten pictures of CooPurr jumping up to this sink. He stood up on his back legs to peer up at the sink (no, he's not quite tall enough to see over the lip, but his head is about on level with the bottom edge of the sink.)
(Click here for a CooPurr scale picture against my clunky PC monitor.)
Then he plotted his jump, rocking and stepping forward with several false starts, until he flew up to the sink and landed gracefully with two paws on the front edge and two paws on the left-side edge - having planned it perfectly.

(This is NOT a little sink - and CooPurr fills it easily.)

Window-Friend.

Gryphon has another "friend" he plays with besides myself and Nikoli...."Gecko":

Gryphon checks the back door every evening.
Usually Gecko is high up on the screen door.
This night Gryphon didn't have to jump or be held up to visit Gecko.

("Can we keep him?")

Altered-State.

Gryphon (inspired by Nikoli) recently discovered there's catnip in that sausage-roll of stripey fabric:

More-Merrier!

And there's ALWAYS a cat or three to help make the bed - and changing the sheets is a hysterical process!!

Yep - that lump Nikoli is attacking - it's Gryphon.

(Nikoli focuses on what is under his nose...oblivious to all else.)

Oh yeah - they help for the entire process!
(Did you notice Mikale peeking from the other side?)

Cruel-Fate. {SIGH}

This is what I found the other morning when I got up:

Down-Time.

Gryphon, also likes to hang out with us in the computer room...snoozing quietly...

all soft and cute-looking...

 with his paw dangerously close to the "ESC" key on my keyboard...?? 

"Gryphon! Watch it!...! Move your..."

"Click"..."Gah...Rasssn-Frassn"..."Did it save?"

The Return of the Carpet

Updates all 'round...

Charity Craftiness:
The Jayne Hats I made for the local Browncoat Group Charity event...The larger one was part of the raffle prizes. I understand the gent who won it was rather tickled. The medium sized-one was sold for $40.00. And they've asked me to make a couple more! {Yarn shopping!!}

The Entrelac Scarf I made has been donated to the Academy for Cancer Awareness' Confetti Gala to benefit the Under-insured Cancer Patient Fund. I believe it will be part of the Silent Auction offerings next week.






Also donated to benefit the Under-insured Cancer Patient Fund, these loverly, spiffy baby hats/socks.
(Please Note, I did NOT knit these. I asked for volunteers to knit to help this charity and I donated the cotton stripy yarn...and these were created by an extremely talented friend of mine.)

 I am entirely smitten with these.
The charity folks were tickled too!

(She completed the hat above with "leftover" cashmere yarn and bits of the cotton yarn pulled off so she could make the socks match!)

(I am agog at the perfect matching socks...sigh.)

So - although I did NOT knit these, I have to share the pictures because they're simply too wonderful and looking at them makes me smile!

Personal Craftiness:

I've completed one of the "Columbine Peak" Blue socks for my niece and started on the 2nd sock.
And I completed the Dublin Bay Socks for me-self:

(Pay no attention to the pink bits, I try not to...)

 I'm knitting away at the first portion of my Einstein Coat. I'm doing it in Reynolds Lopi Yarn. I love the white-on-black tweedy effect, but the yarn feels quite "woolly". (rough)
Since it's meant to be a coat...I'm ok with "woolly".

The Einstein Coat is so named because "you feel like a genius when it's done".












Beyond that, I'm swatching for Reba's socks (also in the Dublin Bay Pattern) and the lacy Sabine cardigan:

Home Improvement: 

As previously noted, the DH and I decided to replace our well-loved living room carpeting. After carpet shopping and selection was achieved, we packed.  A lot.   With Help:

Gryphon and CooPurr

Nikoli and Mikale

And the new carpet arrived and was installed!
It is very tactile and yummy to walk upon and we're quite pleased with it!
The cats like it too and displayed their approval in ways that best suit their purrsonalities:

This is a good place for a bath!

Relaxing - high and low.

WRESTLING!!

Here's the thing I belatedly noticed. 
Back when the cats were helping us carpet-shop...Mikale was elsewhere and did not voice his opinion regarding carpet samples:

 AND...I noticed the carpet shade we chose looks a tad familiar...

 E'yup - it appears we chose a shade of carpet that is very nearly great camouflage for Mikale.

However, I think Mikale's normal posture of "Sunny Side Up" will keep him pretty visible:

Hats inspired by Ma Cobb to support Equality Now

We have a "Can't Stop the Serenity" screening at the Loft Theater later this month - hosted by our local Browncoat group.
(What is a Browncoat, you ask? Follow the link for a decent explanation.)
{Why yes, I really am that geeky - and proud and tickled about it! If you haven't seen the Firefly series and the Serenity movie - you've been missing out and you should correct that lapse in your entertainment world with all haste! (and maybe with some popcorn, and some friends...pizza is good too...}

The proceeds from the Can't Stop the Serenity event benefit Equality Now and The Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona.
A young lady I know put out the word on Ravelry that the organizers of the event were looking for some Jayne Hats to offer at the Serenity screening.

I had the yarn in the required Red, Orange, Yellow colors (wool and alpaca yarn no less - yummy), a pattern, and the plot to knit a "cunning" Jayne hat on my Knitting to-do list.
Now seemed the time to do the deed.

I made one hat to match the pattern specifications. It is rustic and roomy and very nearly matches the pictures of Jayne Cobb wear’n the hat from his Ma. On my “pin-head” - it’s a little too roomy (i.e. fits best down over my eyes) so it’ll probably fit a normal sized person’s head mo’betta. (Or a Jayne Cobb-sized person...)

I tweaked the pattern some and made one that fits my head. And I still had more yarn - so I went for a 3rd hat of an in-between size. The yellow ran a little short on the 3rd hat so I finished the very top with some leftover Cascade 220 doubled (excellent color match).

I offered the 2 larger hats to the Arizona Browncoats group and their organizer picked 'em up yesterday!
She seemed very pleased with them.
I'm not sure if they'll be raffled or auctioned, but I hope they raise some decent funds for the charities AND that they'll sit well on the heads of a couple of Browncoats!
"A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything." ~ Wash
Shiny!!

A Bit o'the "Bubbly"

Whilst clearing out the living room so the carpet could be replaced, we came across two little bottles of bubbles from a wedding the DH attended in Vegas.
(You know, where folks are expected to blow bubbles at the Bride-n-Groom instead of throwing rice, or bird seed, or something that represents good luck and fertility. {I have NO idea how bubbles represent good luck or fertility. Aside from the silly/fun aspect, I would suggest soap bubbles inspire cleanliness ;-) }

I asked how long he wanted to store these (dusty) treasured keepsakes in our home...and his eventual response was that he was able to let them go.
But first, we absolutely HAVE to blow soap bubbles at the cats, right?!?

Nikoli, our fearless scardy cat, had the most fun: 

Gryphon is not so sure about these thingies...

Mikale is unimpressed with the flavor:

The kitty-wonder of airborne soap continues:

Gryphon chooses to retreat to a safe place from which to spectate:

Nikoli continues to play (watch the tail-action):

And Gryphon can't quite resist:

I think soap bubbles are probably not Gryphon's favorite "toy" (which would be Nikoli) but they were an interesting afternoon's diversion.

 

 And where was CooPurr you ask?