No Outrage?

I know we have lots and lots of big issues to worry about. The Nectarine Nitwit is loose in Poland. Poland is going more and more conservative - which is scary in itself. Paul Ryan has decreed that women "must wear sleeves" because apparently OUR "right to bare arms" is scandalous. 

But where's the Twitterverse outrage? Where are the "shocked" reporters because Melania met the president of Poland and his wife in a (hang on, folks, it's a doozy) SLEEVELESS dress? 

Michelle Obama's (flawless and) bare arms generated comments flying right past misogyny to racist, vile and cruel (ape, anyone?). 

Yet Melania wears a sleeveless dress and everyone is all, "Ohhhhhhhh, Neiman Marcus!"

Oh, and Neiman Marcus... Jeeze. I remember walking through there. Nothing I could afford. I mean, I get it. Jackie O wore Halston (the pillbox hats) and her wedding dress was designed by an African American designer who was told, on the day of the wedding, to go to the service door because she was black... Though Jackie had a serious Givenchy addiction, and JFK wanted her to wear American designers. 

Which Michelle did. And Jackie, too. Not sure about Melania, and frankly, haven't been paying attention. And honestly, I don't particularly like this dress. Maybe without the red thing at her hip? I don't get the purple suede shoes, either. 

I'm just kind of stunned because there's been no huge outcry about the clothing Melania's wearing. 

Maybe they're all just happy she's wearing clothing... 

Jackie Kennedy's Wedding Dress

I'm not "slut-shaming." She made some pretty risque choices, and you know what? It's all fair game. She knew what she was marrying and what she was being bought for. 

I'm news-fatigued. There's so much bad crap going on. There seems like there's not enough rope, and Nectarine can just keep on keepin' on and cozying up to Vlad and we do.... Nothing. 

I guess the good news is, Illinois has a budget. We have a long, long way to go. There's a lot that needs to be done to make this state a decent state to live in again. I read Tammy Duckworth's post on this and I can cheerfully tell you that I would have no patience with politics. I realize she must have the hide of an elephant because some of the comments are absolutely nasty. 

How can you accuse a US Veteran of not supporting the country? She gave her legs for it. If you're going to say that John McCain supports this country, you have to give Tammy Duckworth her due. If you don't, then you must be a conservative, because they've got one crazy warped lens with which they view the world... 

Saturday Plans...

So Kid #2 and I are not making the annual vacation trip. If we had, I doubt we'd have gone back to Oxford. We might've tried to hunt up Emily Dickinson. Be that as it may, we didn't plan a trip this year. He was going to go to visit Kid #1 or go to Alaska to visit another friend, but since he's decided to move, he's not doing much travel. 

The Dove bite I had this morning is amazingly prophetic... 

We're going to visit Centuries & Sleuths, a phenomenal bookstore...I've been wanting to take him there anyway, and since I'm not teaching tomorrow morning, off we go. It's an independently-owned bookstore I've talked about before. 

They have a number of writing groups who meet there, and many author meet-and-greets. I actually met Sara Paretsky and had a conversation with her! 

You don't get that at Barnes & Noble. At least not in the ones around my town! 

So we'll probably find somewhere to have lunch (where I can chew something?) and see what we can see in the shop. I do need to get the first Grantchester mystery. I have to say, James Runcie can ignore a contraction like William Faulkner can ignore basic punctuation. 

I'll also say that while I like the "Grantchester" series on PBS, I like the more gentle tone of the novels. James Norton is drop-dead handsome, but I like the way Runcie is treating the story line far better. I won't do anything to spoil anyone's enjoyment, but I will tell you to pick up the novels. 

Knitting...


Continues. The sock is coming along. I was kind of "ho-hum" about the color changes, but it's given me a jolt with the blue stripes. Rather reminds me of one of the Chicago Cubs uniform choices. Minus the red accents. Maybe I should've picked up some red yarn and knitted that in every inch or so? 

Anyway, this is coming along ok. I hope to alternate it between the other Sole to Sole sock (to finish that pair) and the sweater. It's going along quite quickly because it's just plain. 

I think I'm liking the 16-row rib. I've never done that. I have actually (I'll confess) skimped on the ribbing because it's so stinking dead-boring, even while it's necessary. I mean, you've gotta hold up the sock, right? 

I've caught up on my 2 main knitting blogs, and I should revisit some of the others, just to see if I'm still interested. The Panopticon, though? I think Franklin has dropped that entirely now that he's busy teaching and writing regularly for Lion Brand Yarns. It's a shame. I loved his blog. 

Star Trek Original...

Just a quickie: What the heck - from this distance in time, what in the world were they thinking with those women's uniforms? I get that they were "advanced" for their time, but crikey. 

Cheeseball story lines, and Kirk always wins, but I'm looking at a woman wearing a "wrap top" that's barely staying on... Just heard one of the male leads say to the female lead, "As a scientist yourself..." -- all the while, the "scientist" is dressed in a butt-skimming blue number with a scoop neck and scoop back. 

It should be about more than the clothes (see the beginning of this blog). But still - women are always judged on their appearance. And it's not usually kindly. 

Random Picture...

Dinner tonight. Pulled pork and Kraft Mac & Cheese. Don't judge. I do the pulled pork myself. And I felt like Kraft Mac & Cheese. It's all "mushy" and the rubber bands are bothering me today for some reason. I double-checked and they're on the correct teeth. 

But all day today, it felt like my teeth weren't "quite right." I'm pretty sure it's because they're actually moving, but it's very disconcerting to feel that during the day, when you're speaking or even when you're not. 

I've also begun (again) "chomping." Today, I woke up with a bit of an achy jaw. So, moving teeth, chomping jaw... Yeah, that's a recipe for an interesting Friday. 

Back to the sock. I'm feeling like at least that's on a roll!