I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.

Adlai Stevenson, 1952

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So, I've been a bit busy these last several weeks.

First, there was SOAR. And what an awesome week it was. It started with a workshop with Abby on Spinning with a Purpose, which was quite alot of fun and a great three days of learning and spinning. It was really great to be spinning again, btw.

This is Abby taking a break to show some Not-Stupid Spindle Tricks.

And a little sample I spun in Abby's class. I haven't located the other samples yet ... lost in SOAR-Rhinebeck-Limbo ...


Then, a retreat session with Judith on spinning silk blends ...

The last time I took a class with Judith was a little over 5 years ago, when I took her novelty yarn class. I had forgotten, somehow, how marvelous she is.

I also took a retreat class with Maggie Casey on spinning big and lofty yarns, which was great. It's so easy to spin thinner and thinner, but not always so easy to go big and fat again. I enjoyed this class alot. It was the first time I had taken a class with Maggie, and she is an entertaining and knowledgeable teacher. It was a fun class.

I also took a spindling class with Abby, but no photos because my hands were full of spindle and fiber. I'm hoping to improve my spindling skills a bit, so Abby's class was a good re-introduction to it. Plus, listening to her stories and experiences is always great.

Other than classes, SOAR was full of meeting truly excellent people, drinking some rather cheap swill (until I switched to Guinness. yum), spinning alot, hanging out with good friends and meeting new friends. Some highlights:

In between my antique and not-completely-put-together Great Wheel and my Big Dog Phoenix (yes, he really is huge) sits my new Lendrum Saxony Double Drive Left-Flyer wheel in Cherry. It is exactly what I wanted, and was getting ready to order, when the incredible wheel finder Shelia found it for me in a vendor's booth. Ordered three years ago without a customer, and delivered by Gord to SOAR, she had no buyer for it and hadn't taken it out of the box. I bought it on the spot, and Gord put it together for me (so nice of him!) and I love love love love it.

Watching Aquilina weave ...

That's Amy Clark Moore and Lorraine Goris from Spin-Off mesmerized by Aquilina.

Then, Aquilina singing one of her beautiful (and funny!) songs (I personally loved the one about the girl who went and waited by the bridge for her boyfriend's younger brother ... or some such thing ... can't remember exactly what Nilda said in translation) ...


Then, Aquilina danced and some fun people participated ...



Doesn't that look fun?

Admiring Kim's beautiful lace shawl are Kim, Laurie and others.

New peeps, the Tactile Girls ~ Maia and Brooke. Cool chicks. Wish they lived closer.

Anne's lovely lace being admired by Julia and Stephanie while Margaret talks shop to the right.

After SOAR, it was home for three days and then off to Rhinebeck. I have no photos of Rhinebeck. It was crazy busy. But the Marvelous Martha, Lovely Lanea and Beautiful but Blogless Beth were the STF Booth Babes this year. And did a more-than-fabulous job (although this does not mean that Shelia gets to miss Rhinebeck again). Maybe we just need 5 Booth Babes from now on :-D.

It was a wonderfully fun weekend seeing lots of great people. I'm not going to even try to list everyone, because I know I'll miss someone and that would suck. So, to friends who stopped by, new friends I met, people I saw, hung out with and spoke to: it was fantastic to see you all and share another excellent Rhinebeck weekend! Wish it lasted longer.

Okay, on another topic (because you know I just can't leave this alone, it's sort of like picking at a scab) ... have you heard the latest about Sarah Palin?

$21,000 charged to the State of Alaska for travel expenses for her daughters, on State Business (My question is this: what possible state business could her teenage daughters be doing? And if they were just coming along with her, why should this be a government expense?).

$150,000 in clothing expenses charged to the State of Alaska by Sarah Palin. Oh, now they're going to be donated. Again, I don't get why this was ever charged to the government, at all. It seems very, very wrong to me (and certainly not saving her State money, as she continually likes to espouse, even though there is quite a bit of evidence to the contrary).

I'm looking forward to this election being over. Of course, I want it to be over with Obama being elected. But I'm sick to death of listening to McCain say "My Friends ...". I'm sick to death of Joe the Plumber and Joe Six Pack. All these things just downplay my intelligence, and the intelligence of every other Amercian. Don't fall for it.

I'm sick and tired of Palin bashing Obama, calling him a socialist, saying she has more experience than he does. Her comment that he only has 300 days experience is really misleading. He was a Senator for over 768 days (versus Palin's 600 or so as Governor of Alaska). And he was in State Senate for 8 years before that. So, let's compare apples to apples, shall we?

As Frederick the Great said: experience matters only when valid conclusions are drawn from it. I don't see Palin drawing valid conclusions. For instance, she sees polar bears near her home, so they can't be endangered. She lives near Russia, so she has experience with Russia. She wants to drill for oil, even though this oil won't be viable for use in the near future and this just prolongs our dependence on a dwindling resource, rather than developing intelligent alternative resources.

I'm tired of McCain and Palin saying that Obama is untested. Just because McCain was in a war and was a POW does not give him valid Presidential Experience. And looking back on past Presidents, how much experience did most presidents have with running a war and making these sorts of decisions before they became President? I can think of Eisenhower. Maybe some others, but not many. Maybe I'm missing something here, but intelligent men deal with crises in an intelligent manner. Every President gets on-the-job training and is untested, having never been in this position before.

Seriously. For me, I want a President who is much smarter than I am. I could have graduated at the bottom of the class like McCain. I could have transferred schools and majors like Palin (oh, wait, I did do that ... but I'm not trying to be VP) (and I also had better majors than she did. So There.). I could most certainly NOT have been President of the Harvard Law Review. I'd much rather have a President and VP with advanced education degrees, like Obama and Biden.

Beyond that, I'd much prefer a President who is cool, calm and collected. Obama is that; McCain is not. Obama has shown this in every debate, every meeting, every speech. He's not a hot head, like McCain has proven himself to be. Who's finger do you want next to that Red Button?

Now it's back to work for me, getting some more dyeing done for the Knitter's Review Retreat and some wholesale orders. And hopefully get some spinning done!

Parting Shot ...

Phoenix just doesn't get all this election drama, and his favorite thing to do with yarn is eat it.