What does a VP do?

A kid named Damon Weaver from Florida had a chance to speak with Joe Biden when he was stumping in Palm Beach. Biden gave a nice easy to understand explanation for what the VP does.




And this was just funny.


more animals

This too.


see Sarah Palin pictures

Some Politics

The first video explains how a US President is elected in simple terms. It is finally understandable but it still doesn't make sense, not in this day and age anyway.



The second video isn't Joe the Plumber it's Al the shoe salesman calculating how much he would save in taxes under Obama's tax plan.



A link to Calculate your tax cut under Obama's plan


I think Sarah Palin is a little confused regarding which mascot is for her team. And she's being blasted for her wardrobe, it's right up there with John Edwards $400 haircut!

Some of My Other Summer Sewing Projects

In addition to the flannel shorts I was sewing up a few other things this summer as well. I made a tank top out of some fabric the mother had designated for a nightgown. It really looks like nightgown fabric, too. It fit pretty well, but I gave it to someone that would likely wear it more often than I would. She didn't mind the pattern. I thought it was perfect to test out new patterns until I got the fit dialed in. I made a t-shirt out of it as well, gave it to the same person. I realize that I need to go to curved neckline rather than a v-neck. I can't seem to get the change of direction to work properly. Grumble.

I also inherited a number of silk shirts, all of lovely rich colors. There was one that seemed very simply designed. I traced it out on the pattern tracing paper I have and whipped up this purple flowered blouse. I think it's a rayon blend, so it drapes very fluidly, similar to silk. The collar turned out wider than I prefered, a bra strap tends to show much of the time. I made a second one (no pic, though) from a similar fabric, same purple but with larger less frequent flowers. The collar turned out better on the second one. I made a third from a cotton weave, it's a much stiffer fabric compared to the rayon blend. It doesn't drape nearly as nicely, but I love the pale turquoise color. It looks a lot like a hospital scrub top.

After I finished my pink ducky shorts I had some fabric left over. My neighbor has a four year old daughter so I offered to try and make some pants for her. I borrowed a pair of simple elastic waist pants and traced them out. I simplified the pattern by eliminating the side seam, leaving only the inseam of both legs and the front to back center seam. There can never be pockets this way, though. Went together pretty quickly. But they are the reason I finished my blue duck feets shorts so late. J was very funny about the pants. First she didn't want to try them on and then we couldn't get them off her to be finished and finally she tried to lock Llelo in her bedroom so he could stay for a sleepover. I took Llelo up with me for the fittings, Gus isn't so fond of kids, so he was happier staying in the apartment. She adores Llelo and he seems perfectly happy to flop down next to her for tummy rubs and ear scritches. She tries to play fetch with him as well, but it gets complicated since her dog wants to play with Llelo or get in on the fetching, too.

After our outrigger capsize drill the first weekend in Oct I was chatting with some of the ladies about gear for winter paddling. I offered to stitch up some fleece hats. I copied a hat I found in a lecture hall at UCSC, chemistry class, way back in 1984. And whipped up these in a little over an hour. I still need to sew up some neck warmers as well, next on my list of things to do. That and a fleece pullover. I'm a little nervous about putting in a zipper, though.
For $5 you, too can have your very own fleece hat or neck warmer made expressly for you by me. Oh, and I think I have a pretty lame expression on my face when I am photographing my creations.

Pajama Shorts

I have a fondness for rubber duckies. Of all the fabric my mother collected over the years there are some pieces that she definitely bought with me in mind. Among them was a piece of cotton flannel, dark blue with bright yellow duck feets. Somehow I just knew that fabric wasn't going to be used on a new vest for my brother. About seven months before she passed Gus and I took a road trip out to visit. She sent me home with that piece of fabric and her old Singer Slant-O-Matic. As near as I can figure she got that machine around 1960. I remember her teaching me to thread and use that machine so very long ago. She also gave me a pattern for boxer-style shorts, the type I like to sleep in. I had all I needed to start sewing.

A local friend of mine, a sewing genius in my estimation, suggested I get a piece of fabric to practice on before cutting up the good stuff. I bought an old bed sheet at Value Village for $3 and proceeded to teach myself how to sew. After trying the pattern twice with some modifications to help refine the fit, to no avail, so I decided to ditch the pattern. I had an old pair that fit well but had been retired as they were rather threadbare. I got out my seam ripper and while watching a movie I deconstructed them. From those pieces I drew my own pattern. I also bought a piece of flannel so I could make sure I had it right before I cut the duckies.

Dang if they didn't turn out!!! The legs were, erm, generous if a bit short, but they fit. That was way back in Nov 2006. The seams were far from straight and I didn't know I needed to fold the fabric over twice to keep it from unraveling. The fabric wasn't duckies but it was cute, little starfishes.

Early summer I made another pair, a bit longer and legs not quite so wide this time. The seams were somewhat straighter and there was less unraveling. This print had little moons and stars. Turned out pretty well. In August I made my third successful pair. The flannel was awesome, small pink squares with little rubber duckies! I used a double needle and finally figured out how to roll the edges under for a more finished look.

Last weekend I decided I was finally ready, ready to cut the duckie fabric. I took a deep breath and began to cut, again modifying the pattern, a little longer this time. It was getting late Sunday evening, I just wanted to pin a couple of the seams. Then I thought, 'If I sew this one seam I can pin this other part'. Next thing I realized it was around midnight and I was nearly finished, very tired but I didn't didn't want to put it down with only the waistband to finish. At 1 am I had completed my, uh, masterpiece? I tried them on and they fit great. I thought they looked pretty good, too, but then I am partial to the duckies!

I think the mother would be pleased with how much sewing I've been doing. It was rough to get back into it after she passed, I think it took about a year. I know she was pleased to see my first pair of shorts. I had the chance to show her before she passed. I think I'm ready for the next generation: side seam pockets!

Miniature Earth

ok, when I said I'd try to post a couple of times per week I actually meant a couple of times per month. :)

I'll keep this one brief. I've seen some pretty cool videos on Best of YouTube. Here are a couple I particularly like. You can also subscribe to Best of YouTube as a podcast. Enjoy.

Miniature Earth



Crazy Upper Body Strength



Paul Hunt Gymnastics Routine 1988



And this one's just pretty, here's the Northern Lights

Old Connections

Have you spent much time on Facebook? You can easily get sucked in for longer than you imagined. It’s an interesting way to keep in touch with people and reconnect with folks you haven’t spoken to in many, many years. Case in point: A few weeks ago I got a friend request from a woman I knew in junior high school, we were Branciforte Bees together way back in the day! I was trying to remember the last time we spoke and as near as I can pin point it I think it we were juniors in high school. By that time we were at different high schools and had started to drift apart somewhat. Anyway, she lives in Poulsbo now! I was planning to be on Bainbridge Sunday for a potluck at a friend’s house and thought “What the heck, we should try to get together for a cuppa or something!”

I took the 10:35 ferry over, got off the ferry and looked around somewhat bewildered wondering how in the heck would I ever find her. I heard my name, my junior high name which I decline to share with you here ;) and recognized her instantly! The memories came flooding back. We both proclaimed the other hadn’t changed a bit. Perhaps regarding curves and figures, well, let's just say we don’t have our 17 year old bodies any longer, but our faces, wow, those haven’t changed.

Do you have any friends that you can go for weeks, months, years without speaking to and when you see one another again you pick right up where you left off? Katie is one of those friends. We were instantly comfortable together, talking about everything/anything, I found myself telling her things that I haven’t ever told anyone except my mother, there was just that wonderful ease of presence together. What a wonderful feeling. And then there is all that shared history as well. We chatted and laughed trying to fit all of the last 25+ years into the conversation right now. Then I realized it was past 3 o’clock and I really ought to make an appearance at the pot luck, I had brought a frangipani tart and everything.

I am certain that we will see one another again soon, and I can’t wait!

Change Out Race 8/30/08

There's lots that has been happening and I'd like to bring you up to speed. It would be far too much to post it all in one blog entry. I think I may post multiple individual entries on a given day. Just fyi!

Saturday August 30 was the big change out race that SSP and Kikaha co-host in Lake Washington. The course starts out at the SSP beach heading east towards Kirkland until we pass the point near the dog park, then we head south under the eastern highrise of the 520, along the Bellevue and the western coast of Mercer Island, under the western span of I-90, around the southern tip of Mercer Island, under the eastern span of I-90, back north under the eastern highrise of the 520, around the point and back to SSP. An easy 26 miles!

It’s called a change out race because we have a nine member crew, 6 in the OC and 3 in the escort boat. Periodically the escort boat will drop paddlers into the water and the OC will come alongside them, they grab the gunnel and heave their-selves into the moving boat as their seats occupants fling themselves out the other side to be retrieved shortly by the escort boat, another experience in heaving ones-self into a boat. We do this over and over until the race is finished! When in the OC you paddle long and hard, trying not to think about being tired or thirsty (we don’t wear our hydration packs during a change out, we keep bottles of liquids in the escort boat), or cramps, just paddle strong until your seat is called to jump out of the boat. Once in the escort boat I change my wet shirt for a dry one, put on my fleece, and start re-hydrating and snacking for the next go round.

There was one other women’s crew, they were from Kikaha. They started out strong, staying in front of us for the first mile or so until their first change. Their second crew was not as strong and we were able to overtake them. They were changing more frequently than we were, every 15-20 minutes to our 20-30 minutes. At times we were ¼ mile ahead of them, at others they were nearly even with us. Being that close made them hungry to catch us and made us hungry to stay ahead of them.

At the last two miles of the race we made what we thought would be our last crew change and Kikaha brought back their strongest crew, we could hear their yells, they were entirely too close for comfort! Kristen wanted Lianne and Minnie back in the boat NOW! They had only jumped out maybe five minutes earlier. Our finishing line up was Meilee, Lianne, Melissa, Jen, Minnie, and Kristen. Within a couple of minutes Kikaha’s voices faded to silence. The SSP women went on to beat them by over a minute. What an excellent race! It was awesome to have such close competition really keeping both crews motivated.

The full SSP women’s crew was (in alphabetical order): Jen, Lianne, Kristen, Meilee, Melissa, Minnie, Rives, Shelly, and Tanja. Way to go ladies!!! And big mahalos to Dave for being our male escort (boat driver) and Marth for coordinating our changes!