Spring!

Birds are twittering, grass is turning green, flowers are popping up everywhere, and there are no patches of snow in sight! I adore the springtime…It’s like everything has gone out of hibernation, just to say hello to the warm weather. The one fairly amusing thing about spring is how everyone dresses like it’s either 90 degrees or 20 degrees (F) outside. I was walking down the street the other day, and it was 60 degrees out. Everyone was commenting on the balmy spring day saying things like, “My, isn’t it hot out today?” and “I haven’t seen this kind of warm weather in years!”. And what’s funny about that is, in two or three months we’ll all be groaning about how hot it is outside, and we’ll think back to April and say, “But at least it isn’t April, it was so cold back then,”

I woke up this morning to the sound of little birds cheeping outside my window. (Well, it was mostly crows making that hacking sound and sparrows and pigeons, but still…) People were jogging up and down the street in shorts and t-shirts, waving hello tho all of their neighbors. But when I glanced at my thermometer, it was only 40 degrees! It just shows how spring can be so gloriously unpredictable!

Happy spring!

Oasiss

More Knitting….

     I’ve made a fair amount of progress on my Juno Regina scarf. The pattern requires a lot of attention, but the results are beautiful so far. I’m all done with the increases, so it should start getting faster (as I have to pay less attention to it). There’s one odd part where one diamond flows into another that appears to have an extra row of yarn overs, but I don’t know how I could have managed that without changing the number of stitches (I still have the right number). Maybe it’s supposed to be like that….. Even if it isn’t, the mistake isn’t particularly noticeable so I’m not going to go through the bother and stress of trying to undo it and fix it.

     As for my Unbiased bag, I’m going to frog it. I only had enough yarn for 2 pieces and then about another half, so I would have to either buy more yarn or substitute something, which I didn’t want to do. It also just looked really large and strange. I’ll probably end up using the yarn for another bag that I’ll design.

     I’ve been wanting a knitting bag for quite a while now, and I finally found a great pattern so that I can make one myself! The pattern is from Bag Style, and it’s knit in berry stitch. I’ve only done about 3 inches of it so far, but I absolutely love the way it’s looking! Berry stitch is easy (once you get the hang of the p3t’s) and looks a lot like mini bobbles. I’m using Lion Brand Cotton Ease in a light green that I had in my stash. I figure I’m going to run out of green so I’ll probably do part of it in a darkish purple I have. I’m thinking that I’ll also line it with some fun fabric to keep needles from poking out. Do any other knitters find it annoying that the knitting bags out there (not patterns for ones, ones you can buy) are almost all very expensive? I guess I can see why they are so pricey, as making them is probably fairly expensive and people want to make a profit, but I just don’t think that it’s worth the money. I would much rather make one myself that I can customize exactly to my needs and preferences

Great Yoggi Berra Quotes

I love these Yoggi Berra quotes. They are so…confusing? pointless? jumbled? Anyways…here are some good ones:

Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.

I didn’t really say everything I said.

No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.

The future ain’t what it used to be.

This is like deja vu all over again.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

If the fans don’t wanna come out to the ballpark, no one can stop ‘em.

You can observe a lot just by watching.

Love these quotes.

Anyone else have any quotes (from anyone) that just…don’t make sense? Post them in a comment!

Buyouts and Books

Congratulations to the two WP blogs that received book deals (and one received a buyout)! I’m so happy that bloggers’ opinions are starting to be noticed.

I’m slightly disenchanted too. (Have you read the news article relating to this yet? You probably should, to get the scoop. Also note that I am talking about Target buying the popular WP blog, “Stuff People Like”) I mean, money is great. Fame is great. Knowing that people care about what you write is fabulous, and I’m glad for the author. But I feel that this buyout is a reality check of sorts. I mean, what is a blog, if not a place where someone can express their unbiased, uncensored feelings? The fact that a big corporation like Target is now funding the blog means that writing is likely to be more controlled in the future. And I worry that, as more of these super-companies buy out blogs, the majority of the WordPress community’s independent blogs may be affected too.

I love WordPress, don’t get me wrong about that. I was first introduced to it by a family member, and I have been hooked ever since! WordPress has been a friend of mine when I needed a space to write something. WP’s independent take and non-commercial background appealed to me, but now I fear that they too are getting drawn into the money-obsessed cyclone of media intervention that our society is spiraling towards. I don’t want to take away from the bloggers’ successes, but honestly WordPress? I’m disappointed in you.

I’m not saying that the authors of the aforementioned blogs should feel bad, and I don’t mean to make them. I just want to show people how money can go to a small company like WordPress’s head. I don’t want to be blogging on an ad-infested, money-focused site with pop-ups everywhere. Sorry to be a pessimist, but that is what most sites have amounted to these days.

Take a look at YouTube, for instance. Before the big Google buyout, YouTube was almost 100% ad-free. But then the super search engine came along and shelled out a couple billion dollars, and Banner ads appeared by millions, infecting the site with a disease, just as the chicken pox leaves ugly red spots everywhere. Even AOL instant messenger has a few scattered ads. Not only do the colorful boxes get your attention, they get in the way, and make you forget what you were thinking about momentarily. This is why having ads on WP would be disastrous.

I sincerely apologize if anyone objects to this article, I mean no offense by it.

Yours,

Oasiss

 

Edit: And, happy April fools’ day, everyone! 

Virgle…

I am pleased to inform you that Google and Virgin are joining forces to create a colony on Mars. They have created an extensive 100-year terraforming plan, and are even launching an essay/video contest for people who hope to win a spot on the Virgle mission.

APRIL FOOLS!

Go to http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html to read all about this hair-brained colony! It sure put a smile on my face. And be sure to take their quiz determining whether you are a qualified applicant. This is one VERY good April Fools’ joke. Thanks, Google and Virgin!

Happy April Fools!

Always,

Oasiss