I was linked to an article today that makes my blood boil. Sadly it is from a part of the country where I called home up until six months ago. In fact it’s a mere hour from where I live now. I have never known any place that I have lived to be a place of religious violence. I have never experienced it first hand, which is why to hear about this is such a shock to my system.
Chemical irritant empties Islamic Society of Greater Dayton’s mosque (Dayton Daily News, 9-28-08)
A “chemical irritant” was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. (Huffington Post, 9-28-08)
One of the founding treatises of the creation of this nation is religious freedom. I will give you that this is a judeo-christian nation with heavy world influence but this does not give us the right nor the authority to attack the world of Islam. Islam has never been the problem. The problem has been the select few Muslim people who decide (or are coerced) to enter a life of terrorism. For those who dare to believe that other religious sects are free of such blemishes I present you with instances from each of the major world religions and the specific perpetrators:
Christians - Mike Bray, Eric Robert Rudolph, Timothy McVeigh and the Catholic/Protestant struggles in N. Ireland
Zionists - Yoel Lerner, Baruch Goldstein and Meir Kahane
Sikhists - Simranjit Singh Mann and Sikh/Hindu struggles in India
Buddhism - Takeshi Nakamura
The key here is that each perpretator is acting on their own. They do not represent their religion as a whole or the beliefs of most people who also identify as believers. The Islamic transgressions may be more prevalent in our minds but that does not render them the most brutal religion in the world. Nor does it make their followers barbarians. The sooner we start treating everyone in this world with a little respect the sooner we can get to work actually solving problems instead of creating more. There is no excuse whatsoever for the gassing of innoncent children (or women or men). I refuse to tolerate such behaviour. If you would like to read up on what really goes into creating a terrorist I highly recommend the following book: Terror in the Mind of God. The Global rise of Religious Violence by Mark Juergensmeyer. (Prof Kim would be so proud!)
For more information from the local news please see the Dayton Daily News:
Initial Report
Update
Tags: religion, terrorism
So as you may or may not know I have been in my house round about 6 months now. I work from home and my home office is half work and half craft room. I didn’t have much in the way of formal organizing furniture in the apartment. Most of my craft tools were stored in a spare dresser. That dresser now lives in the guest bedroom and has the clothes of my brother and sister in the event that they ever decide to crash with us on a whim. Call me pragmatic, if you will. 
Which brings me to my new challenge. Wednesday kicked off my get the craft room/home office cleaned up and organized effort. I took the doors off the closet and started pulling out the moving boxes. I brought a bookshelf up from the basement to temporarily hold my items, until I figure out what kind of storage thing we’re doing in there. It was nice to finally unload the moving boxes and find the items that had been missing for a long time like my sewing thread. I then decided to spend the evening looking for furniture to outfit this room.
My oak friend that I fell in love with yesterday is for the work portion of the room. Oak friend is a sturdy Amish bookcase measuring 4′ wide by 6′ tall. I was unable to purchase oak friend today because the store closes at 5pm most days. That’s fine I will get it Monday (the next day they are open late) or tomorrow if at all humanly possible (like I get a half day off work or something). I am getting it from the Amish store because they are going to work with me to stain it to match my desk that I inherited from my grandfather, they are a local business uptown and they’re cheaper than the unfinished wood furniture store (I factored in having the unfinished store do the staining).
I have a blue print of my end game for the home office/craft room. You can see it here:
Scale 1 block = 5″
My original intent was for the boy and I to build all this furniture so I could get the dimensions I want but well we’re busy people and I would like to get this and the other closets unpacked. I also happened to inherit a gorgeous desk from my grandfather that was almost exactly what I was looking for. Now I am in search of the carts to go next to the craft and sewing tables. I am leaning toward this cabinet from Hinterberg and something akin to this scrapbooking unit from Container Store or hmm even this one from Target (not that I am still looking as I write this post).
Now comes the big question: any advice? Do you know of any reputable places to get good quality organizational carts? I have given myself a budget for this project which a little over half will go to the bookcase, (what can I say hard and solid wood doesn’t come cheap 
] If at all possible I would love to get the shelves and bench for the window wall into this same budget because then my room will be done. Oh and the laminate factor…you can’t stain laminate (or can you?) so I am trying to find stuff that will “go” with the bookcase and desk without clashing.
Also, any ideas for what to do in the closet? My first thought is to do a wall of cubes to put fabric and whatever else into. The boy seems to think that would be wasted space. Granted it wouldn’t be the whole closet because the closet stair steps up to the attic. Perhaps something that is about 6′ wide and 8′ tall. Just a few questions, eh? I really would love some input from folks out there who have done something similar or just know what is/isn’t a bad idea. I really look forward to any advice you can give me.
I fell in love with some oak today.
I think I will go buy it tomorrow.
Mama don’t let your children grow up to be spinners…
I went to Wool Gathering 2008 yesterday and had a grand time. More on that later. But first this most amusing/disturbing news…
I went to Wool Gathering, met up with my friend MysticSpiral who helped kick me into gear again on my spinning. She ever so patiently moved my spinning over to my new spindle (if something about 9 months old counts as new…) and I was off like a prom dress. [oh lord did I just say that?] For your viewing pleasure - the new spinning chair the boy made for me when I said I need to sit somewhere else to spin:
I wanted something with a little height so I could spin longer before winding the yarn back onto the spindle. It’s awesome isn’t it? (I’ve heard a rumour that there is a 12 step program for this…)
Tags: Spinning, Yarn
Part of my package to my swap partner for the yoga swap was a water bottle cozy. It actually knit up pretty easily (once I stopped being a goober). I did attempt to knit it in the round at first, however the pattern doesn’t completely lend itself to being knit in the round. It leaves a weird seam that doesn’t look as good as when it is properly seamed. I finished up all the weaving in of ends while I our power was out on Sunday. Good timing, eh?
Cory’s modeling again - water bottle cozy
Description: Water bottle cozy
Pattern: Lacy Yoga Bags by Alison Green Will in the small size
Yarn used: 1.72 skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic in Colorway 3872 (100% mercerized cotton) 50g (1.75oz)/ 108 yds (100m)
Care Instructions: machine or hand wash, dry flat
Needle Size: US 7 (4.5mm)
Modifications: none, since my initial modification didn’t work out.
Finished Size: Small bag size
Date Started: 9/5/2008
Date Completed: 9/14/2008
Notes: This bag is pretty nice and I would totally recommend making one. It’s cute to boot.
full shot of the bag
I love the detail in the bottom of the bag.
The top of the bag has an eyelet row for the icord straps and has a turned hem. I quite like the technique.
Tags: Knitting, Swap, Yarn, Yoga
