Sweater Class and Katrina Redux..

Please NOTE: Yarn Harlot will be in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, March 13 at the Detroit Public Library on Woodward Avenue at 1pm.

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I taught my child sweater class yesterday as one 4-hour class. Boy, was that a trip! The student decided to work the large size, and I decided to work the smallest size, this time with ruby red and a sort of mottled brown and beige--not really variegated, but more like "spotty"--anyway, I got both fronts done (except for the button band) and the back is half done.

The student got the left front done. That's just due to size difference, not because she had any trouble that someone else (me) wouldn't have.

I did explain what's going to come next to my student, and I believe that she understood what I was saying, and we had my last sweater as an example to show "how it's done", but I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting a call when she gets stuck--especially since she works there with me.

I purchased Elton, The Sheep-Amigurimi pattern from DeliciousCrochet. What a cute pattern! I'll have to crochet him up soon. I printed the pattern today...

I also bought some black and some white eyelash yarn for a scarf. Think Skunk, people! I'm a little divided on how I'm going to accomplish the scarf, but the yarn will sit in stash until I finalize the idea in my mind. I am sort of toying with a vertical stripe, or at the very least, diagonal--perhaps even zig zag--

I also purchased a pattern off Loopy Ewe from Born to Knit. Her Kerbits Mittens are so adorable, and I love the Pennsylvania Dutch patterning. The pattern will come in the mail, which is really ODD, considering the immediate nature of internet downloading--and makes the pattern cost more, which is VERY undesirable. Still, I ordered it. Loopy needs to get with the program and stop charging for shipping and start using the internet to its maximum effectiveness.

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On Entertainment Tonight on Friday, Gary Coleman ranted pretty blue (IMHO) about the people in Haiti, spouting facts about Baton Rouge, and how the people there have been pretty much forgotten, and how long since Katrina?

Well, Gary Coleman has pretty much lost my vote with his comments there. I was sick and tired of the Katrina stuff within a few days of the flood, myself--not so much the news coverage, which I can live with, but the apathy and the "gimme" attitude--as if the rest of our country owed these people who truly suffered, I'll be the first to admit; but were constantly shifting the blame. As far as I'm concerned, I believe that the mayor was at fault--it was his responsibility to have the emergency relief in place, and it wasn't there. The government KNEW, and the people KNEW that the levees were not being maintained in favor of other projects--the state departments were responsible, because they KNEW that the levees needed repair and that they would not withstand Katrina. And the people were at fault for not getting their butts out of there. They had plenty of time. They literally watched Katrina on their televisions and didn't

RUN.

Now, people, listen to me, I'm the sort of person that if I see danger on the horizon, I will RUN! Just as fast and as far as my little legs and my fear of dying will carry me--and I don't need a car or a bus or a train--just a good dose of adrenaline! So don't think me a hard-bottom because I have no further sympathy for people who were videoed sitting on the curb with their hands out saying "you owe me". I'm simply out of sympathy for people who display that sort of attitude.

So they all go to the "dome", and WHAT A MESS! No one cleans up after themselves. Good grief. It makes you wonder how they lived when they HAD a home--know what I mean?

On the other hand, the people of Haiti HAD NO WARNING. There was no telecast telling them that an earthquake was about to hit, not having had one for 4 generations--I would think the fact that they were sitting on top of a fault line would be pretty much forgotten...even in a verbal history sort of society. No warning equals you have no time to run away...and for that, I think a country deserves a little help. Beyond that, you don't see Haitian people sitting on a curb with their hands out, saying "You owe me" either. They are all involved in rebuilding for themselves and each other--and to be fair, many of Katrina's victims were involved in their own rebuilding--but too many were looking out for themselves only--for #1. And Everyone Else came in second after their own needs were met. To me, that's pretty selfish. And if the offering wasn't quite up to their own individual concept of the American Dream, there was much P & M'ing...for those who don't know what that is, call it crying in your beer.

So along comes FEMA with their trailers, or small mobile homes, which certainly isn't adequate for living long term, but was never meant to be for living for long term. Yet the folks who got them decided they WERE and many haven't moved beyond that point either. Gotta love that kind of dedication. And so there has been a fair amount of P & M'ing about the FEMA trailers. Well, as far as I'm concerned, they were lucky to get them--there were plenty more who DIDN'T get one. AND they were FREE.

My mother taught me that beggars can't be choosers. Perhaps that's why this behavior irritates me so much. You probably won't get what you beg for, but be GLAD for what you got. And let's face it, you GET what you PAY FOR. If it's FREE, then you have no room to complain!

Seems to me, that the rest of the citizens of the United States put out for the people of Baton Rouge, who admittedly brought this disaster onto their own heads by deciding to live next to the sea, in a big hole that actually sits BELOW SEA LEVEL.

Is that a new concept for you? I simply see that as the BEGINNING OF STUPIDITY. Even Jesus Christ told his followers "Don't build your house on sand..build it on the rock." Well, don't build your house in a city that is bound to flood eventually, either! Homes are supposed to be built on a hill for just such a reason! Nevermind the literal vs allegorical translation--if the area is known to be dangerous--don't go there! Stay safe! Keep your family safe! That seems to me to be the beginning of smart thinking for your family!

It disgusts me how the disaster was handled before it ever happened. I feel that the people had time to get out. I feel that the government was responsible at the local and state level, and that everyone sat on their collective waiting for the federal government to bail them out, and then complained about it when it DID happen. Altogether a complete mess, that nobody wanted to be responsible for, and frankly the buck should have stopped at the people in the area themselves. Sadly, they let each other down.

So there you go. I guess it was a little longer than I originally intended, but there was a good deal to say, I guess.

OFF TO KNIT! You know, it strikes me quite funny that I could rant on and on about that, then suddenly decide to go or do elsewhere, and the mood just shifts immediately. Go figure!