That's a Fucking Acceptance Speech!

Dustin Lance Black won the Academy Award tonight for Original Screenplay for "Milk". Below is the text of his acceptance speech (trust me, video will follow). Whether it's possible or not is something we can debate at another time. For about 2 minutes, all I could think about were gay teens all across this country and how different the world is that they will come of age in compared to mine. It's truly overhwhelming and was very moving for me. To think I almost didn't tune in.

"Oh my God. This was, um, this was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story.

When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.

I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours.

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk".

And this just in, I love Sean Penn. I'll let you find what he had to say on your own. This last part is me again, I didn't want to confuse anyone. ;-)

Crazy Gauge and a Bike Ride

Not much to report except that I'm still struggling to get the right gauge on the afghan square project. As you can see, these are the two latest tests and neither is hitting the 4 stitches per inch that I need. I've decided to just move forward and start knitting in pattern. It's going to be very close and I'm hoping the complexities of the pattern vs. stockinette will win in he end. Who knows, maybe I can block it to 15" if necessary. I'll keep you posted.


I know that much of the country is buried in snow but here in Florida the weather has been amazing the past few weeks. I took to the road on my new bike and had an amazing ride today. I had no idea there were such desolate and beautiful locales just a few miles from my front door. I rode about 10 miles and followed the train tracks just for some fun. It seemed appropriate since I just saw Stand by Me last night. No dead bodies, I'm happy to report. Keep the faith on the gauge.

It's the Right Thing to Do

So right I'll say it again...It's the Right Thing to Do! Hit this link, scroll down and sign the letter today. Thank you.

Sixes Straight Up!

I've been challenged by Riohnna over at My Tangled Threads to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder from my Flickr or Photobucket account. Since I don't really use either, I've posted the 6th picture from the 6th folder on my computer. You missed out Riohnna, if you had said 7th picture you might have gotten a scandalous shot of me at the beach but instead you get the view on the way to my favorite stretch of beach on Captiva Island. It's a beautiful road; lush, alive and a great biking locale.

Speaking of biking (nice transition, huh?), I brought my new bike home today and it still smells like the horrid little man who put it together at the bike shop. A bath wouldn't have killed him since he reeked of BO, BM & cigar smoke. The whole thing was revolting so I took the bike, through it into the trunk and tied the entire mess with a supermarket bag.

He must have been really gross or my OCD must be healing because if you've ever been with me when transporting anything that didn't fit completely in the vehicle it would need to be tied down to resist a nuclear attack. Here the handlebars and half the wheel are completely out of the trunk and all I secured it with was a strip of platic -- spectacular! I'm very pleased with myself and my new bike is pretty nifty. We tooled around for several hours, got the smell off and now he's resting comfortably in the garage. What shall we name him? I named my BB Fabio so I'd like to stay with something Italian, for continuity sake. Submissions are being accepted in the comments.

Does anyone know what that "hairy rock" in the foreground is? I looked up hairy rock but surprisingly didn't find much info.

Gauge Sucks...

I don't get it. I understand the theoretical need for gauge. I get that by calculating the number of stitches per inch you can determine the size of the knitted garment. I understand the colassal importance of this step but what I don't get is why every book and website explains it in stockinette stitch when patterns all around the world tell you to check your gauge in pattern. I can't count those stitches or decipher the exact gauge count in pattern -- stockinette I get, in pattern, not so much.

Case in point, I'm knitting the Red Herring scarf and I like the pattern. It's fun, it has some interesting movement and I can watch TV and not get lost in the pattern. It has gauge requirements but I'll be damned it I can get a good count. What I can tell you is when I hold it up to the light, it's poked with holes and not the good kind like with lace. I'm leaning toward a smaller needle but I can't be sure -- and that's frustrating. Gauge is math, it's not supposed to be subjective.

Further, I volunteered to knit a 15" square for a community afghan project. Now I have to figure out the gauge (in pattern of course) and get an exact 15" square. Oiy.

In Other News:

I'm a twit(terer). I have no idea how it even works but I'm easing my way into it and figuring it out. Join in the fun and feel free to leave instructions in the comments!

I'm in love with Hulu and Fringe. This website is cool but be careful, I haven't figured it out but there are definitely hidden charges coming. Fringe is an amazing show that I found on Hulu although you can watch it at Fox TV as well. I don't know how I missed this show all season long. Actually I do. It's on against the Biggest Loser but now that I've seen one episode, I am hooked. It's got a Law & Order goes supernatural spin that's really interesting and that cute guy from Dawson's Creek. Head over to Hulu and watch almost every episode from season one.

It's full fledge Winter in these parts. It's going down into the 30's tonight and frost is expected. How cool is that? I may have to grab a blanket and a hot chocolate and head out onto the lanai. You should see all the Floridians in their parkas, they're, so stupid, so cute!