So, I had a post all planned for today. With knitting content, even. I was going to talk about how I was doing Mystery Stole 4, and actually keeping up, and how I loved my yarn and my beads, and then I was going to show you pictures of my stole.

Except on Saturday,  I put it down mid-row to look for my bead needle, and the cat planted his fat butt on it and knocked a bunch of stitches off,  right in the middle of a lace pattern.

He could care less about stoles, and about the fact that everything dropped down so far there was no choice other than to rip back and start again.

The silver lining (if you can call it that) is that I decided to bite the bullet and do both sides at once, greatly increasing the chances that a) the shawl will get finished, instead of languishing half-done on the needles and b) that it will be finished by Samhain, which is my goal. While I don’t think it’s a particularly Samhain-ish pattern from what I’ve seen so far, part of what I hope to accomplish in the coming year is to become more organized and focused, and starting the year off wearing a shawl that I knit on time, and is also pretty and sparkly, seems like a good way to kick that off.

Anyway, the point of all that is to say that, well, there are no shawl pictures. So I’m going to talk about Akoha instead.

Have you heard of this? It’s so amazing. It’s a new site, and I think of it as karma gone digital. You start with a deck of cards that have missions like “send someone a surprise gift” or “invites someone to coffee” or “thank someone.” Once you complete the mission, you give the card to that person, and they play it forward. Each card has a code that you enter on the website, which allows you to get karma points for your action and to track the mission as it travels. You can also create missions and print them out to add to your deck. It’s so cool…Mario gave me a card this morning, and I’m totally addicted already. They’re still in beta, but you can sign up for an invite, or try to get someone to give you a card. : )

Tarot Card of the Day: Two of Wands

I have a new obsession. Lucky for me, this one takes up less space than books, yarn, or DVDs, and I like to think it makes me smarter.

What is it?

The Rachel Maddow show.

I’d heard some buzz about this show, and I set my DVR yesterday so I could check it out.  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. In my experience most news shows involve very little actual news, but a lot of useless scandal-mongering and gossip presented by anchors who are seemingly unable to comprehend the perspective of anyone who is not a white, middle-class, middle-aged person with similar interests to them.

I was, therefore, greatly suprised and pleased to find out that not only does the Rachel Maddow show contain, well, news, it manages to do so in a way that doesn’t condescend to me and is actually FUNNY. Yes.

WordPress won’t let me embed the video (You suck, WordPress) but head over to her website and check it out, or tune in on MSNBC at 9 pm EST/6 pm PST.

Regulate, baby, regulate? Yeah, I so want that on a bumper sticker now.

Tarot Card of the Day: The Hierophant

I have been thrown off all day. Massive BART delays this morning meant I go to work an hour late, and my whole day has just been thrown off. GAH!

In other news, I’m following Barack Obama, and several Democratic Congressmen on Twitter, but I have to say that so far I’m not overly impressed with the way that any of them are using the service. Maybe I’m just picky, but if you want to build a relationship with your followers/constituents you have to do something to….well…build a relationship. Right?

Tarot Card of the Day: The Empress

No, really.

After the week I’ve had, an earthquake is pretty much the only thing that could top it, so of course the universe obliged.

It was a small one–from what I’m seeing, it seems like people in SF felt it more, I almost didn’t notice. Just a slight shaking. Still, earthquakes are never fun.

On the up side, I bought myself a new tarot deck. it’s the Gilded Tarot, and it’s gorgeous. There’s almost a steampunk aesthetic on some of the cards–I love it.

Tarot Card of the Day: Emperor

So, as I keep an eye on the news, I’m continuing to be struck by how ridiculous the Republican party is being right now.

Let me get this straight, guys.

You pick a virtual unknown candidate for VP. We’re talking a horse so dark, she’s practically anti-matter. You don’t release any information about her, and you act surprised when the press “uncovers” scandal?

First of all, either they didn’t vet her properly, or they are so used to the lies and illusions that the Bush administration has managed to feed to the public that they acutally didn’t expect the truth to come out. Either way, it’s crazy.

Now, apparently, any attack on Sarah Palin is anti-feminist, and the press is supposed to stop asking questions. Yes, we’re supposed to give up our right to question our political nominess on their views, backgrounds, and experiences because….the Republican party finds it inconvenient!?!

I understand asking for privacy for your family–though I think pointing out that someone who claims that abstinence only sex education is effective has a pregant teenage daughter is not intrusive, but a valid statement to make–and I understand asking that the discussion focus on relevant issues rather than questions of how she’s balancing workand motherhood–clearly, she’s been doing that for a while with some success–or how she looks in a bikini.

But to not ask any questions about her background? Not only is that completely ridiculous, it’s a sign that the Republican party has forgotten the very foundations of our government. The idea of democracy and public discourse and a well-informed citizenry are the very foundations our country was built on, and they seem content to throw them all out and replace them with a campaign of fear and propaganda.

This makes me mad. It also makes me a little bit afraid. While I have faith that the majority of voters are beginning to see the abuses that the Bush adminstration has perpetrated, and I’m hopeful that Obama will be our next President, I can’t imagine the Republicans letting go of power easily or gracefully. I’m a little worried about what might happen come November.

Tarot Card of the Day: King of Pentacles

Did McCain even bother to vet Sarah Palin? Or did he just go, hey, she’s conservative AND a woman–that’ll fool ‘em!

Seriously. She’s got a pregnant 17 year old daughter , little-to-no experience, and she was apparently part of a fringe political group, and is  under investigation for firing a commissioner for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law.

Um. Yeah. This is going to be a very interesting two months.

Tarot Card of the Day: Four of Pentacles