Quote of the day

"Flesh eating is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to moral feeling: killing. By killing, man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity, that of sympathy and pity towards living creatures like himself and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel. As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields."

-Leo Tolstoy

Article in Gourmet Magazine

Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes

"You could almost forget the irony: Workers who pick the food we eat can’t afford to feed themselves."

Set sail for fail

Did not get into Berkeley. Big surprise.

Maybe this is the Flying Spaghetti Monster's way of telling me I should open a vegan bakery instead.

Still feel shitty.

The thing is, I'm not even that upset that I didn't get in. Honestly the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to do it. I don't have passion or drive to educate, I just like science. That's not what a good teacher is. It was more of a backup plan. It was a way to put off thinking about what I really want to do for a few more years.

So, I guess it's good that I didn't get in?

Still feel shitty.

All of my friends, down here and in Portland, are doing such amazing wonderful things with their lives and are just the best, smartest, most creative and brilliant and passionate people, and it drives me insane with jealousy, because I feel I have nothing to offer them.

Christ

Cookbook collection has more than tripled since this photo was taken

How the fuck long does it take four cookbooks to get from Hayward to effing Berkeley?! Son of a bitch!

I have a problem.

Short-lived spring

Picture Kelly took of the tree outside my apartment building. The short week of unseasonably warm weather has got the trees in a tizzy. So pretty!

Quote of the Day

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." - St. Francis of Assisi

Hat

I've finally picked up the knitting needles again. Other than a shawl/lap warmer that was just straight knitting on HUUUGE needles that Michelle gave me for my birthday long ago and a started-but-never-finished white acrylic Coronet, I've knitted nothing in almost three years. But I've been inspired by some of the PPKers, mostly Nebraska, and by Hannah's adorable knit and crocheted creatures.

Necessity and a desire to make something tangible (other than the proliferate baked goods) finally drove me to knit this:







...a hat made of yarn thin enough to fit under my bike helmet, just warm enough to keep my giant brain from freezing, and earflaps to keep the wind away from my delicate earses. I tested it today and it works beautifully.

I used the Kitty Hat pattern from Stitch n' Bitch by Debbie Stoller (the pattern is available here, but changed the colors (obviously), changed the earflaps a LOT (used same base number of stitches and decreases), and used size 8 circular needles and DPNs, because for some reason I can't find my size 7. Hence the hat is a little big, my attempt at intarsa on the earflaps is a little wonky (and one is JUST bigger than the other), and my ineptitude with decreasing reared its ugly head. (there is ALWAYS one section where I forgot to decrease and have an extra stitch floating around, ALWAYS).

The yarn is a thinnish cotton that I bought in Tübingen, Germany back in 2005 (yay stash decrease!), and has these lovely flecks of brown and tan, giving it a homespun look. I think I bought it to knit myself an iPod cozy and just never got around to it. I still have a little left over though, maybe I'll knit myself a tank cozy with it!

I love it. It looks very Oregon-y. Now all I need is my puffy vest and hiking boots and I'm set.

Since my friend Erica reminds me of all things German-, bike-, and Portland-related, I've decided to call it my Erica Hat.