Almost There?

Dear world, How will the world look tomorrow? I think it will look pretty much like today, although today is particularly sunny for a November day in Glasgow, Scotland. The sun will shine again tomorrow and I will once again wage a (losing) battle with my fridge and its tendency to freeze my milk. It is a mundane existence but it is mine.

The US is voting for a new president today, of course. In its own way it has an impact on my life, although, mainly, in ways I find difficult to explain. My best example is my own little backyard.

In foreign matters, the Danish government has relied upon the US administration far more than any other Danish government I can recall. The Danish PM believes himself to be a close, personal friend of Mr Bush and, lo, the Danish government was one of the first to offer support for the War in Iraq (we even sent a submarine). In domestic matters, the Danish government has relied upon a far-right political party to lend them authority. The far-right party has a platform of anti-Muslim and anti-immigration sentiments with an anti-plurality, anti-intellectual stance on most other matters. This has been the political landscape in my little country since 2001. I moved to the UK in 2006 for several reasons - including an uneasy feeling of no longer being comfortable calling myself a Dane.

The world is very unlikely to change overnight and I do not think it will look any different tomorrow. I hope in a vague and abstract way that my desired (and, according to the polls, entirely likely) result of the US election will trickle down to affect a change in my own little country. How will the far-right react to a US president with a multi-ethnic background and whose father was a lapsed Muslim? How will the Danish PM deal with a US president whose stance on war is vastly different? Can I once again look at my national flag without a bad taste in my mouth?

I can but hope.

If you are an American citizen, please do go out and vote today. You are voting for yourself and your country - you are also voting for me and my country.

Love, Karie.

PS. It's been a long, long haul. This one sums it up - sorry about the NSFW URL as the content is entire SFW: This Effing Election - a babel tower of words.

Red Redux

World, meet my red cardigan. It's a simple raglan cardigan with garter stitch ridges on the yoke and a stockinette stitch body. It's very warm (which is why I finished as quickly as I could because the temperature's dipping below zero every night) and the colour itself keeps me happy in the midst of gloomy November. It was knitted in New Lanark Aran (in 'Cherry'). The yarn is organic, locally milled and has a wonderful rustic feel to it. There is no denying that a cheerful sheepsie once flopsied about wearing a fleece which has now become a cardigan in which I shall cheerfully flopsy about the fair streets of Glasgow. As for the pattern: The math was cheerfully flopsi lifted from February Lady Sweater but otherwise it's all my own. And the verdict: I like having a red cardigan in my wardrobe and it's comfy, if not the most stylish or fashion-forward of knits. It's all good.

Next on my agenda? Christmas knitting looms, of course. First, though, I have promised Lilith of Old Maiden Aunt Yarns to test-knit a new pattern of hers and I get to try some of her luxury hand-painted yarn. Mwhahaha.

PS. I'm a bit tired of elderly gentlemen approaching me to say they haven't seen anyone knit for a very long time. Well, try making your way to Glasgow's West End on Tuesday nights - you won't be able to pass a street without tripping over a knitter. Seriously. Seriously.

Aww!

The weather is lovely: all sunny with crisp air. I went shopping for Christmas presents today and am almost finished buying for the Danish side of the family. Almost. On my way home from town, I met up with Other Half and we went for a walk through autumnal woodlands. And we saw this little cutie just a three-minute walk away from Dumbarton Road, one of the busiest roads in our part of town:

Revelations

In January, Cindy Jacobs, a co-founder of an American prayer movement and host of the TV show God Knows, had a prophecy come to her. The voice of God warned Cindy about the troubles ahead for global economy. And lo, on October 29 Cindy and her fellow believers went to Wall Street and prayed in front of the Golden Bull that their fortunes should be restored and for wealth to return to the US.

In Cindy's own words:

"We are going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to what we feel will be the 'Lion’s Market,' or God’s control over the economic systems," she said. "While we do not have the full revelation of all this will entail, we do know that without intercession, economies will crumble."

Thank you Daily Kos, Ravelry and Metafilter for the heads-up. I was going to write a lengthy commentary but I think Cindy and her friends speak well enough for themselves.

Popscene!

Tonight's Never Mind The Buzzcocks featured the lead singer of mid-90s Scottish indie band Geneva. Boy, did that make me feel old.. Here's the forgotten(?) gem of "No One Speaks" from their first album:

.. now where did I put my miniskirt, green glitter eyeliner and 70s vintage shirts? Hey, hey come out tonight.. (YT link)

More trips down memory lane; looking back I really liked my music angsty, eyelinered and vaguely androgynous: + Sleeper: Inbetweener + Strangelove: Time For The Rest of Your Life + Suede: The Drowners + Subcircus: 86'd

(Darth Ken, don't you dare leaving a snarky comment containing a picture of me in full indie girl gear)

Doctorin' The Tardis

David Tenannt has quit as Doctor Who. He was my first Doctor and will forever be tied in my mind to the early stages of the epic Ms Bookish/Scottish Guy (now known as Other Half) long-distance relationship. I watched New Earth and Tooth and Claw (Tennant's first proper episodes) during one of my visits and timed my next visit so it coincided with the breath-taking season finale. Aww. Back then I didn't have a big Doctor Who problem, of course.

Anyway. According to Other Half (formerly known as Scottish Guy), the smart money is on Paterson Joseph to replace David Tennant, although other contenders apparently include James Nesbitt (please, no, no) and Robert Carlyle (he'd be another local boy and, well, he likes my knitting). Any preferences?