About this whole Dumbledore thing...
I read this post in a group on Ravelry. It is so well written and so EXACTLY what I wanted to say that I asked permission to copy it here. Permission was granted.
"Maybe I'm too post-modernist for this, but Rowling's penchant for gratuitious background information is beginning to puzzle me. It is understandable that an author might feel the need to do this, especially if she is as emotionally connected to her work as J.K. Rowling must be after seven books. But I think that every writer needs to live bravely with the fact that once the book is done, she doesn't matter anymore. Her motivation doesn't matter, her ideas don't matter. The ball is, as they say, in the reader's park, and if the reader doesn't see something in the book (any book), it's not there, no matter how many opportunities the author gets to explain stuff.
My point is that Dumbledore isn't gay and Neville Longbottom doesn't marry Hannah Abbott unless the HP readers think so, unless their imagination tells them that this is what happens. It probably did occur to many people and it didn't occur to many others. That is the beauty of stories and storytelling. There are millions of Harrys and Dumbledores and Snapes out there, not just "the one". You give the readers your ideas as best you can and know how and the readers use their own imagination, cultural frame of reference and life experience to run with the story for their own amusement and education. You, the author stay behind and watch. You don't usually get to run after them and tell them how things "really are".
To me, it's sort of like using knitting patterns (in muggle magazines :o). No matter how strongly the designer feels that this sweater should be blue cotton, if you want to make it in rainbow-dyed wool, that's what it's going to be."
I haven't decided yet if I want to link to the person that wrote it for fear that you will find her blog and miss her wonderful writing in a seething fit of anger about this Harry thing.
San Diego Fires...
This is an interactive map of fire information. I want to say that it's very cool, and it is very useful, but I wish it was not necessary. I have a friend in Encinitas - it looks like he might be in line to evacuate... I hope not...
Kauni color runs
A friend asked me to give her an idea of how long the color runs are in my Kauni EQ yarn. Since I had taken mine off the cone, soaked it and dried it and it's sitting here waiting to be put into a ball, I was able to measure a run for her. (This is totally UNscientific - I am NOT a spinner or dyer, and I only did this once... if you base a project on it and it's inaccurate, please don't blame me. :) )
I chose the "blue" run - from deep violet to light blue - this photo shows you what it looked like sitting there before I started measuring it:
Here is a "From" photo. Notice that the color change is not abrupt - so I wound the deep violet around my hand and when I could actually see some blue starting to show up, I sat it down for this pic, and that's where I started measuring:
And then on the other end, I waited until I could see some green showing, and I stopped:
I measured the yarn "slack" in my hands, and came up with 47.5 yards in this run.
If I have a chance, I'll do it again with another color.
Kauni is here!
I got 2 balls and a cone, and had to take the yarn off the cone and make hanks... and soak them so they would relax - it was too tightly wound and about half the size of the stuff on the balls... !
The problem is in taking a pic to show the difference:
The dark blue strand is from the cone - but it sat overnight and relaxed a LOT. It was like string before...
Here are the hanks hanging to dry - because they are pretty:
Now I actually have to swatch it... because I DO want it to fit. ;)
Gifts!
9 years is the "leather" year. (NO NOT THAT!) I got this really cool leather journal, and I got Mark a belt and some imaginary boots. And he brought home Thai food (YUMMMMMMM!!!!) and chocolate, and a bunch of these:
Happy Anniversary to Me and Mark!
For those who inquired, here are some photos from our wedding - 9 years ago! - in Las Vegas.
Here we are with "Merlin" the officiate (a Baptist minister from Excalibur... LOL) Lanza is the Maid of Honor, the person behind the camera is Eduard Schwan. (Hi guys!)
All the people that came to participate: (we don't know any of them...)
A celebration dance by some of the dancers that showed up:
Reading! It's what's for breakfast...
The new box of Cheerios had a book in it "Everybody needs a Rock" by Byrd Baylor with pictures by Peter Parnall.
It's a book of rules for finding just the perfect rock for you.
Rule Number 8 The shape of the rock is up to you. (There is a girl in Alaska who only likes flat rocks. Don't ask me why. I like them lumpy.)
The thing to remember about shapes is this: Any rock looks good with a hundred other rocks around it on a hill. But if your rock is going to be special it should look good by itself in the bathtub.
Susans Place © 2006 Susan Wallace •