Hey, is anybody  there?
What ya doin?
Sitting around?
It's Saturday night and we just got home from another adventurous day. (two weekends in a row- can you even imagine?)
The Mr and I went to a gun show in Bradenton.
It was his birthday last Tuesday and even though we aren't celebrating birthdays anymore, I decided to give him a mulligan, (or he allowed me to make up for totally forgetting his day) and it was his choice.
So off we went.
I took the camera but didn't take a single picture.
The smell of gun oil and all that testosterone eventually drove me to the food court where I sat and quilted for a while until the Mr got finished.
There was a pink rifle that I thought was pretty cute- the wood was stained pink and really some of the rifles were amazing laminations of colored woods and sanded and shaped quite nicely.
Who knew guns were pretty?
I guess I never paid any attention. I try to ignore them.
 They aren't my thing but he went with me to the museum and Art gallery and that is my thing.
Fair is fair.
Right?
Then we went back to Fisherman Joes and sat outside under the oak trees and ate lunch. I had a grouper sammie and he had a blackened tuna sammie. delish.  The area is nice with bricks and tiny sparrows and there was a pleasant breeze.
The sandwiches were great and then we walked around and the guy at the cigar bar across the street gave me some empty cigar boxes!
 I was amazed and delighted! Free!
How nice.

After coming home and wandering around the house a bit I suggested Barnes & Noble and so off we went.
I found a copy of a book I had previously seen at Picasso Moon Yarn Shop and after sitting on the floor a while and browsing I decided to get it to add to my Arts & Crafts Library.
The book is called Intertwined
                 The Art of Handspun Yarn, Modern Patterns, and Creative Spinning
           pluckyfluff Handspun Revolution
                                                              by Lexi Boeger
                                                          published by Quarry Books of Beverly MA

Now, you know I love books.
You also know that I used to weave baskets and have done wet felting and a small amount of spinning (not just my wheels, either).
But, alas, I still do not know how to knit.
I will learn, I tell myself as I look at the gorgeous photography, most of it taken by the author and I know that anything is possible if I can conceive it, I can certainly take the required steps to attain this dream.
So, one day when I get ready to learn to knit I will have this book with it's funky, fun and free spirited guide to whimsical projects and I will be rocking some knitted hats and scarves and in the meantime I am going to be ripping some chenille into strips next week with one of my friends and then we are going to play with my new embellisher machine and get down with some wool and a few ideas I have stirring around.
The book has smart and unique ideas for what to spin to weave with and chenille is one of them. I have been tearing clothing (like silk blouses) into strips since my basket weaving days and usually use it as an embellishment.
Imagine making felted shoelaces, Urban Hobbit Hats and Ghost Town Zombie Hats- you know you want to!
I have only flipped through this book and really haven't read it but I want to curl up with a cup of hot tea and drown in the possibilities.
It has knit, crochet,woven, felt, and "other "patterns that include a cool gusseted skirt that I will probably give a try sooner rather than later.
What compelled a non knitter wanna be crocheter to lay out cash for a book that she doesn't really need or will use anytime soon?
It is something different.
Something new.
A Book that can make me pause and stare and say wait a minute- I've never seen this before! I have been buying, checking out and borrowing art & craft books for a very long time.
Maybe even longer than I can remember.
Maybe since 3rd grade when I had a wonderful Art Teacher who opened my mind when she taught me how to cut a linoleum block into a stamp.
Once opened, my mind has never fully closed against the possibility of creating something from nothing and this book rejoices in using found and bizarre objects spinning them with wool to create a unique and artful yarn medium in which to knit an object that is not only functional but will continue to amaze and delight the viewer or wearer while continuing to open more minds out there.
Rarely does a new book inspire me to learn new techniques or skills let alone the expense of a new hobby.
 This one does.
So it was a good day.
I had a difficult time dealing with forgetting Fred's birthday and I have spent several days thinking about why we celebrate them once we have grown up beyond say, 21.
Why are they important?
When you are a child I can see having parties and getting presents- who doesn't love that?
After having 47 birthdays I just don't care. I know that I am loved by the people who love me without getting a card or present to prove it.
The other 364 days are just as important, aren't they?
When did it start meaning  that you don't love someone if you forget the anniversary of their birth?
I think our American society has done this and made us so holiday conscious that we aren't good citizens if we don't decorate bigger and better than our neighbors.
That isn't right.
It doesn't matter. What does it prove?
When I was young Halloween wasn't lit up with lights like Christmas and while I think it is wonderful to decorate it still can be excessive and unnecessary if there aren't any little kids around to enjoy it.
We have an older neighborhood and just don't have a lot of kids trick or treating. I wish we did. I love Halloween.
Maybe I am finally growing up and maturing, about the birthday thing-
Maybe I will change my mind but I don't think so.
I used to want parties and cake and balloons and all the trappings of celebration because once I was 9 I had out grown birthday parties.
I always had a cake but nothing usually with my name on it.
I would give anything for one of my Grandmother's chiffon cakes now, but there will never be one again.
Even when I turned 40 I wanted a big fuss.
Now at 47 it really is just another day.
Who cares?
Why bother?
I can celebrate it as easily with a bike ride or a walk on the beach, doing what I love to do.
The rest of it just isn't necessary to me anymore.
Maybe because I have love and can go buy what I want when I want.
Maybe because I am secure now.
Maybe I have all the days of the year to celebrate the Kim that is sometimes a calamity.
What do you think?
Does it hurt your feelings if someone forgets your birthday?
What does it represent to you?
Does it make you feel loved?
I used to always be disappointed that I didn't get the right gift or felt sad if there was no one to celebrate with.
Whats the deal with birthdays?
Did Hallmark do this?
I have noticed more Hallmark stores closing and all the Publix stores are getting larger sections of cards.
Is an e-card as good as an old-fashioned snail mail card?
Do you keep the cards you get?
Do you send a thank you note?
Do you like the cards with the chips that play music?
To me that is a gift in itself! Music in a card- how delightful!
I just wonder what it will be like in another 50 years. People will be bidding for those cards on eBay and getting good money for the ones that still play.
Hey, thanks for sitting here with me and for talking to me about this.
I am just trying to figure it all out while the Mr is in the living room playing his new game- the pretend birthday present that he bought at Best Buy tonight (its right next to Barnes & Noble).
Happy Happy Birthday...Mr Super Fred...yawn...
g'night,
Love & stitches,
Calamity Kim