I love that man.

President Obama, you made me cry again.

The only thing I didn't like in that whole speech was the idea of new nuclear power plants in the United States and continuing to perpetuate the lie of so-called "clean coal." We are all aware (or should be) that western Europe is systematically closing all of their nuclear power plants as they replace them with green alternatives because they recognise that the risks of total disaster far outweigh the benefits when geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar generated power is so much safer, healthier (for people and the world), more abundant and will eventually be far cheaper than even nuclear power (you know, they have to do something with all that nuclear waste... it doesn't just disappear into the Great Void just because we'd like it to do that...). The "clean coal" lie I have addressed elsewhere and will not go into again, but really people have got to stop repeating this figment of the coal industry's PR people's imaginations. Continuously repeating the lie won't make it any more a reality than telling children about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy make those imaginary creatures real.

Oh, and the Republicans? Can stuff it.

The usual...

A random update...

• I've been a little sick for a week or so... I thought at first that it was the crazy wet and cold weather we had last week, and then I thought maybe it was the weather and/or indoor allergies, which would be unusual but not unheard of, but it was just too annoying and persistent. It's probably a sinus infection, according to the nurse at the clinic... and now that I have antibiotics, I think it's getting better. I'll know better by tomorrow afternoon, as I've only been taking them for 24 hours and while I think I feel better, I couldn't say for 100% certainty.



• We just heard today that my brother is moving home from California to go to school. He'll be here on Monday. Not totally sure how I feel about that yet... I hope he does well.



• Meanwhile, I've been preparing my application for the Graduate Certificate program I want to do to get certified. It's due by March 15th. I have everything finished and together and sitting on my desk in an unsealed envelope, except the letter of interest/statement of purpose. They are quite vague about the requirements for it, and in fact, somewhat contradictory in the instructions, other than the very limited "250 words or less" specification. I've emailed the program requesting a clarification of instructions, but I have yet to hear back.



• I'm loving work... I find it rewarding and enjoyable and I feel valued, competent and helpful. I think that's important.



• I've been knitting a little bit. I just need to finish up a few decorative touches and I'll have two baby hats done for a friend who is expecting. She's a Firefly/Serenity fan, so I've made her a Jayne hat, as well as a hat for which I just happened to have yarn in my stash. I've also given her booties... Next is a blanket, but I haven't completely decided on a pattern yet. I have until mid-April. Other than that, I want to work on a few things for myself. I need a new pair of fingerless mitts. I think I want them to be a little longer than the Fetching mitts that I have already. The only problem with the Fetching mitts is that they aren't quite long enough to cover my arms to where my coat sleeve ends whenever my arms aren't just hanging at my sides, you know? I might make cuffs too. I also want some anklets, and another hat.



• I need to send my Hitchhiker to be converted into a double-treadle. I keep forgetting to pack it up and send it...



• I want to spin. My unspun fiber stash continues to grow unabated and is so very tempting. I'm running out of room for it too... I can't wait until I'm able to get to VA to try out a Mach II. The more I think about it, the more that little number is #1 on my list of potential new wheels.



• I'm obsessed with Star Trek again. I'm a Trekkie. I'd never deny it, just like I would never deny being a huge and hardcore fan of Jane Austen and the works of JRR Tolkien. I liked ST: Voyager for a while there, until it started to get silly toward the end. DS9, since it ended, has been my favorite ST series for the execution of the overall story (frankly, I thought it was masterfully done)... I remember using the philosophical concept of IDIC in some capacity in a paper during my sophomore year of high school. Never watched Enterprise because I thought it wasn't very well done. The writers of that show just weren't particularly interested in going along with previously established canon and just made things up as they went along if it served the story - lazy, tsk, tsk. And I was never into TOS very much until the new movie came out last Spring, but now I've watched every episode of TOS on YouTube (it's up there under CBS's shows) and I would be lying if I didn't say that I want to get some Vulcan ears and go to conventions. It's a sickness and I don't want the cure... Couldn't make it to DragonCon this year, when Shatner, Nimoy, Stewart and Mulgrew, among others were all there. It was unfortunate, but it was just too expensive for me. I'll get there eventually though.



• The garden needs doing, but the weather was awful for a while there, so I'm behind on that work. Hopefully, this weekend, I'll get a lot of work done. Can't plant things yet, but I need to redefine the planting beds and put in the soil amendments and figure out what I'm going to plant.



• I can't remember if I've written about it yet, but I'm taking Hebrew lessons on Wednesday evenings. I really like it and it's about time I learned...

Yes, I think so...

Inspired by my friend Ilana, I'm making a few New Year's resolutions I think I can at least try to keep:

• Blog more! LOL! I'm woefully disappointed with the number of posts I made last year, and none at all in the month of December! For shame!


• Loose the 7 pounds I managed to gain since last summer and then some! To this end, I have bought a pedometer.


• Knit more! And knit for myself more! It's not that I don't like knitting for others, but I have worn out several cold weather items and I really need to make new ones for myself, and if I don't make it a priority, I know I won't do it. And I inexplicably feel like I knitted hardly anything at all last year, even though I began and completed 18 projects and mostly completed 2 others in 2009. Lately, I've been getting lots of inspiration for accessories from Gilmore Girls of all places...


• Continue to eat healthier and find ways to continue to refine what I eat (this will never, however, include cutting out bagels... they are my Kryptonite in the best sort of way). I splurged way too much on sugar during the holidays...


• Go to at least 1 reenacting or living history event! In costume!!!

As an FYI to those who might be interested: all the knitting projects I worked on toward the end of 2009 now have pictures up on Ravelry (viewable only to members). I have the same username there.