mamassage

Each Wednesday I go knit charity afghans at my local yarn store. And as you might guess, what with
it being knitting & Arizona
and all, most of the women there are significantly older than I. But I do enjoy the company and all the
stories.

As would have it, the conversation
yesterday turned to death. No, not to
the "€œOh mah Gawd, it’€™s so scary"€ kind, but rather the "€œI guess I€’d better
figure out what to do with my body"€ kind. So as I sat there cranking out the squares, we discussed local mortuaries,
none of which are apparently acceptable, cremation vs. burial, and of course
organ donation. Yep, I was present after all. 

Well, somewhere along the line, the conversation took an odd
turn. It seems that one of these women
really doesn’€™t want to "burden"€™ her family with any financial obligation. You see, she’s not close enough to them to
feel she has the right, but not estranged enough for vindictiveness to factor
in. Therefore, she’s way into the idea
of donation,€“ but feels it’€™s not ENOUGH.

It turns out that she wants "€œthem [some institution] to keep my body"€. So we discussed donating to scientific
research. But after some research of our
own, we found that even they only typically keep a body for three weeks or
so. Then it’€™s back to the family. (Organ donation is within a few days &
allows for an open casket if desired, by the way.)

At this point I’m about ready to tell her to sign up for
BodyWorlds 4. I’m just at a loss for
ideas. So it is that I turn to you, fair
readers, for inspiration. Is there
anyone among you who knows how this woman can dispose of her body/ashes for free? Something tasteful is preferred; however, she
feels no need for it to end up in any specific local.

Me, I want a green burial.  Check it out. 

This one‘s pretty darn cool, too.

I mentioned in my last post that I’d been knitting. 

“What?” You may ask? 

“Why would you want to participate in such an old lady activity?” 

And if you did, you’d only be mirroring the comments made by my loving, yet not always understanding husband.  You see he thinks that knitting is a colossal waste of time.  I have to keep reminding him that keeping fish is not my idea of a party, either.  And we do all have our hobbies.

But honestly, I find that clicking the old sticks is immensely relaxing…at least most of the time.  I have, though, been heard to chant "Damn, damn, damn!"  if I drop a stitch and need to retrieve it. But I’m nothing compared to these women.

Personally, I think I make kind of cool stuff.  Like my latest:  The Alien Illusion Scarf.  It’s knit so that the pattern can only be seen from certain angles.

Now you see it.

Now you don’t.

Pretty cool, huh?

I’ve found a group of illusion knitters through Yahoo and am know learning how to graph my own designs for IK.  I was thinking about a dishcloth with a resistance fist on it.  I think I’d find that satisfying on so many levels.

Meanwhile I am making Chris a cool camouflage earflap cap.  Being the baja bug (sans sunroof) driver that he is, I think it’ll get a lot of use.  I went online last night to find a pattern.  I think I’ll use this one, only without the pom pom, and in desert colors.

Then I can finally get around to what I want.  And with my somewhat taciturn disposition, I think I’ll produce this lovely.  Dontcha think it’s perfect for me?

…

OK.  As it turns out, Chris
was a bit taken aback by reading my perception of his feelings re:
knitting.  According to him,

"Knitting is not a colossal waste of
time."

So, um, I guess fish can be kinda
cool, too.