This week’s links are actually overwhelmingly awesome! I love it when the Universe surprises me like that.

Okay, there’s one depresssing one, so let’s get a look at how Facebook is taking over the internet and why that’s frightening out of the way.

Everyone scared yet? Sorry.

Here, have some chocolate hazelnut and coconut mousse cake to cheer you up.

Or perhaps some blueberry rhubarb crumble.

You can eat them while you watch this clip from the BBC’s Victorian Farm. So fascinating! I must go find more.

I also found this fascinating blog post about buying (and wearing) vintage fashion. I’ve been eyeing all sorts of lovely vintage or vintage repro dresses for some time, but always ran up against the problem of things that would not fit because they assume proportions I don’t have. I don’t know why the concept of shapewear didn’t occur to me until now, but it didn’t. And, amazingly enough, I think I may actually attack this with a *plan* and start there, so I have proper measurements in hand before I start buying dresses or sewing clothes.

Along similar lines, I’m also really enjoying a new series, Fit to Flatter, that talks about selecting and modifying knitwear to suit your body shape. I had to poll my friends to figure out what mine actually was, because I’m generally horrible about things like that, or having any realistic idea of what I look like. But I have high hopes for creating some knitwear that fits well and looks great!

Finally, for Bay Area folks, check out Knit One One’s May Magic craft sale for fibery and crafty goodness! This Saturday, and conveniently located next to Sweet Adeline’s, where there are many delicious baked goods to be had.

My parents are in town for a visit, so we headed up the coast to Ft Bragg and Mendocino on Sunday. I hadn’t been up that way before, but it was a beautiful trip.

We stopped at the City of 10,000 Buddhas outside of Ukiah.

It was really pretty, except for the loudly squawking peacocks.

I don’t like peacocks. They’re very frightening birds.

Then we headed up to Ft Bragg, where we saw some really beautiful beaches, with seagulls.

And squirrels.

And a whale skeleton.

I’m a whale, put your head in my mouth!

Then we found Glass Beach, with so much amazing sea glass all over.

After that we headed down to Mendocino for lunch, and a stop at a yarn store (ahem, more on that later) and some more beach views.

Finally, we made our way back via the Pacific Coast Highway. It was pretty, but not my favorite kind of road. I really do not like driving along such steep cliffs.

So why do I live in an area with so many roads like that? This is the mystery.

Surprisingly enough, this week’s collection of links includes a few serious thing, and then lots of things I want to bake. Mm, baking. Possibly, I need to find more people to feed baked goods too, however. I think my office and coven might get sick of me shoving cake at them.

From the Crunchy Chicken, some ways to avoid cancer-causing toxins.

The Green Phone Booth questions–do you really own your body parts? The answer may surprise you.

Nil Doctrine has a great rant about those who ignore politics yet insist they’ve got it all figured out.

Smitten Kitchen had a recipe for lime yogurt cake with blackberry sauce.

Not Martha offered cobbler baked in jars.

Then my coworker sent me a link to Oprah’s site where I found, among many, many tasty desserts, Rhubarb, Ginger and Almond Tart with Lemon Creme Fraiche. And Pumpkin Fritters with Vanilla Ice Cream.  Plus Lemon Creme Fraiche Cake, and a Bittersweet Chocolate Basil Tart with Honey Grapefruit Sauce. To top it all off, there was even a Love Goddess Cake.

Yep. I definitely need to find more people to bake for.

For the past few days, I’ve been completely fascinated by the news of the volcano erupting in Iceland. It is proof, if nothing else, that mother nature is far more powerful than most give her credit for, and our technology does not mean that we can refuse to submit to her will.

What strikes me, though, in the midst of all this talk about the flights being grounded is what isn’t being said. There’s a lot of talk about the money lost by the airlines, the money lost because the food that is produced in places like Africa can’t be shipped to Europe and the UK. Of course, there are many tragic tales-medical flights that can’t fly, families separated after what could have been a short vacation, loved ones missing important events, people worried about dwindling supplies of medication that they carried. I do not mean to downplay any of this.

But nobody’s talking about what it seems that Eyjafjallajokull is really revealing–that we’re spoiled and perched on the tip of an incredibly precarious and unsustainable system.

We truly believe that we should be able to get anywhere in the world with a few hours flight, and kick up a fuss when the only options might take longer. We grow food far away, and it rots in warehouses when it can’t be delivered (because God forbid that it be given away to the people in those countries who really need it; that wouldn’t turn a profit.) We ship medications all over the world, and don’t think about what would happen to the supply if that transport were to disappear.

But nobody’s talking about that.

Instead, it’s push push push to get the planes back in the air. Ships and trains take too long, and don’t you know we are all very Busy and Important people with Things To Do and Places To Go. The scientists worried about ash in the air locking up the engines of planes are being overly cautious, and we should really listen to the airline industry that is watching its profits spiral down the drain. Because being trapped in a medal tube thousands of feet in the air, of course you don’t want to act with an abundanc of caution. What would you do a silly thing like that for?

It makes you wonder, if this doesn’t do it, what will it take for people to sit up and really think about how we’re living?

From the News

Jon Stewart wisely points out that Fox News no longer feels the need to accurately report facts. Why do we as a society let this go on? Why is there not massive outcry on BOTH sides of the aisle?

The New York Times talks about news sites reconsidering anonymous commenting.

In related news, Gawker discusses if anonymous commenters can be outed by a news organization.

Green Files

Huffington Post discusses issues with food safety.

Yes! Magazine talks about local economies and the ways they can close the distance between us.

Treehugger covers a study that finds–shockingly, I know–that the things we buy aren’t what make us happy.

The Archdruid Report talks about the Twilight of the Machine.

Yes! Magazine talks about breaking the curse of bigness.

General Awesomeness

My friend Andie discusses being present in an excellent post.

Smitten Kitchen posts an easy jam tart recipe. Om, nom, nom.

This doesn’t really qualify as awesome, but worth thinking on. Peak Oil Hausfrau points out that all that money we structure our society on and use to prop up our systems...is really just numbers floating around in space. Sobering thought.

I was watching the Today show this morning and they had a segment about the economy. The recession, apparently, is over. And one of the economists–I can’t remember his name, but the one who yells a lot–kept insisting that we were going to be back to growth.

Any attempts by the host to point out that while technically, we may no longer be in a recssion, but people are still unemployed and struggling was shot down with barely concealed anger. No. It doesn’t matter, those people just aren’t thinking of the big picture. It will trickle down to them, and housing prices will go back up! And the Dow will go back up! And we’ll all just keep on going exactly like we have for the last 20 years!

Does  anyone else feel like we’re getting sold a bill of goods?

Everyone is so concerne with what it looks like–with continuing to preserve this system that is so tied up with their egos and their identity. Nobody is willing to ask the hard questions. Nobody is willing to push hard for actual reform–not symbolic lip service, but actual reform that, yes, might prevent Wall Street employees from pulling in multi-billion dollar compensation packages, but might actually help a lot more people in this country. Nobody is willing to say, hey, maybe we can’t just keep growing forever. Maybe real estate should be about people having places to live, not about flipping houses for quick profit.

Nobody is willing to say that what we’re doing is causing incredible damage to the planet and while I have no doubt that the Earth will be just fine, we’re rapidly creating an environment that we can’t live in. At least not one that we can live in and stay healthy.

Suggest those things and you’re met with anger. The same kind of anger that the econmist on the Today show was attempting to conceal. How dare you have the audacity to challenge the system that has made these men in power rich? How dare you suggest that they might have to change? That we all might have to change. That perhaps profit margins and having the largest salary and the fanciest vacation and the most expensive gadgets isn’t what really matters. That the ideas and habits and skills we’ve cast aside in the name of progress might actually be better–or at least equally as valuable–as what we have no.

Why? Is it because change is scary? Because people’s egos are so slowly tied to what they do? Or because we have become so firmly entrenched in this idea of remaining positive and optimistic at all costs that anyone who has the audacity to look at the reality of what we’re doing is castigated for raining on the parade or simply being jealous of the success of others.

I wonder if the dinosaurs pondered similar things before they went extinct?

Confession: the mitered square sock yarn blanket is addicting. I just want to keep making them.

I started the second one, the community blankie, recently. This one includes yarn from swaps, unlike my memory blanket, and the squares are much smaller. I’m making it throw sizes, but it’s still difficult to photograph.

I’m enjoying the different yarns, and I can’t wait to get more–I’ve got two more swap packages due to arrive soon, and I’m already thinking about finding more to participate in (or host). But I think I need to get my own scale first, so I don’t have to keep borrowing one.

Spring is really starting to bloom and it’s so exciting! I’ve definitely been feeling the change in my diet–both with what’s available, and what I want to eat.

I made an asparagus and ham fritatta. It was quite tasty, although my broiler is apparently slightly uneven, so I wound up sitting on the floor balancing the pan with one hand and blocking the cats from crawling into the broiler with the other while it finished cooking. Don’t let anyone tell you I’m not dedicated.

Though, really, let me just take a minute here to take a minute to talk about HOW MUCH I HATE GAS OVENS. Gas stoves? Fine. After about 6 years, I’ve finally adjusted and I can cook without standing there mystified because I don’t know what a “medium” flame looks like. But the ovens? Not cool. I do not like crawling on the floor to get to my broiler, and I really do not like the fact that I can’t easily brown the tops of things in the oven. (Unless, of course,  I want the bottom charred.) If I ever have my dream kitchen, it will have a gas range, and an electric oven.

Ahem.

Sorry about that. I got carried away.

I also got my package of yarn from the April Showers, May Flowers swap on Ravelry! It’s from the Blankie Mania group, for my community blanket, and I was so excited to get my envelope full of minis. I love them–the colors are all so bright and beautiful.

I started knitting them up right away. I can definitely see how swapping becomes addictive…and how it can make a blankie grow much quicker.

This may come as a shock to absolutely no one but somehow, I’ve managed to cast on for yet another new project.

(What? What do you mean I already have enough on the needles? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. ::quietly shoves stack of half knitted items under the couch:: ::whistle softly:: Hey, look! Something shiny!)

Ahem.

It’s actually my new commuter project, for now. I seem to have lost one of the needles for my commuter socks, so until I get a replacement they’re in hibernation. I was looking for something to work on–simple enough, not too overly large, and came across Mrs. Darcy! It’s been in my queue for a while, and I had some pink yarn in my stash with no project in mind–perfect match.

I’m making a few mods to the pattern. I’m knitting in the round, so that the body is done in one piece, and I lengthened the bottom a bit, as my  cropped shirt days are behind me. Mostly because I really hate feeling like the small of my back is cold all the time.

So far, it’s zipping along quickly. I can’t wait to finish.

Another week, another list of links I probably won’t have time to blog about properly! (Also, bonus points to anyone knows what song the title came from–and which link made me choose it. No cheating with Google!)

News and Other Depressing Things

The Huffington Post as an interesting look at how the Evangelical maintream fuels milita groups and other extremists.

Club Orlov takes a look at collapsing competatively.

Darkness is usually thought of as bad…but could it actually be good for us? And are we screwing ourselves over by our artificially lit surroundings?

She’s Crafty

Nutty Creations released the On the Wings of a Dove pattern. Gorgeous! Definitely going on my list.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at truckers taking up quilting and knitting due to more downtime between loads. So. Awesome.

Not Martha has a post on making some incredibly detailed and awesome chocolate surprise eggs. I’m not sure I’d have the patience, but they are pretty impressive.

Nom Nom Nom

I’m saving this one for summer–Pink Lemonade Cake!

Or, how about a breakfast cake? Okay, so not technically cake, but still looks tasty, in a weird kind of way.

But not as tasty as coconut mango pancakes. Yum!

Oh–and hey, I wrote a story. You should read it and comment. Yep.