tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77166164074204870262024-02-18T21:22:35.535-05:00Little Hunting CreekMs. Hunting Creek is a writer in Virginia. Her work has appeared in The Toast, The Airship, The Washington Post, and Medium. When she isn't rooting for the California Golden Bears, she designs textile art, reads cookbooks in bed, and wrangles two cats, a golden retriever, and her husband..Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.comBlogger472125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-9097720578916076502017-06-25T09:32:00.001-04:002017-06-25T09:34:04.224-04:00Why Do Designers Think We want to look like Flamenco Dancers?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXeH9wJ7HjrtWNf4IjKi_rmqmDEy3DU90iLUOnhNcy2iUoO1A3IZQv4-o577-uaHZBn6l-Qe7KtkJs9wS_AhT7GYyqItJPP_a4uCiXNoX19LIzHgrZnC-jSmuMxOe3rkGeXfdDEZHRJM/s1600/V9243_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1164" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXeH9wJ7HjrtWNf4IjKi_rmqmDEy3DU90iLUOnhNcy2iUoO1A3IZQv4-o577-uaHZBn6l-Qe7KtkJs9wS_AhT7GYyqItJPP_a4uCiXNoX19LIzHgrZnC-jSmuMxOe3rkGeXfdDEZHRJM/s320/V9243_01.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vogue 9243<br />
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This new<a href="https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9243" target="_blank"> Vogue pattern </a>will be useful in my career as a flamenco dancer, should I decide to bring more flamenco into my daily life.<br />
I'm not alone, I hope, in my desire for the "cold shoulder"trend to GO AWAY. Women can't wear these looks to work, designer humans.Persons with any kind of bosom support needs can't wear these looks without the dreaded strapless bra, a contraption surely designed by the Marquis de Sade.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9242" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1164" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Urdm5QRA6_Y15XBNTpCH5ZlbgEfXL1KaXqgmFX-hYd_SSczzyc9oHFjVu1pms_TYq9KIGe6khwuTTmKtf6pzSfan5EZ0qnbVgdY7sgEpj1P3afE1EOUTpiBgQzDiXWMu4MoC5lnOcmM/s320/V9242_01.jpg" width="232" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9242" target="_blank">Vogue 9242</a></td></tr>
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It's not that I don't have nice shoulders. I just hate wearing clothes that have to be fussed with; that I have to pay attention to, lest there be a wardrobe malfunction.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9257" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1164" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm54m-r6o639v28iVeNdkfjnVl2Jcw22FavROyJw4Uqz1D5rXbe9lQImglKtQQPxKiolDfoUCryXSBd4EaT1LLUoHy8q-Gv2ghjxvW09G9Wj84BjSUa05f79EyhHpruPKSRcP9APs1rBU/s320/V9257_01.jpg" width="232" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9257" target="_blank">Vogue 9257</a></td></tr>
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I remember making this exact top in the 80s. I wore it to a swanky engagement party,,where the parents of the bride had had the pool covered to make a dance floor. There were fairy lights everywhere, and if Pinterest and Instagram had existed then I'd have social media'd the heck out of it.<br />
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"Look at this fancy party I'm at, a mere recently graduated college student!"<br />
(there were no Mason jars or burlap anywhere. Those items were not yet on the wedding planning horizon.)<br />
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It's funny how we remember exactly what we were wearing at certain times, especially if we made the clothes.<br />
Nowadays, if I were going to a fancy wedding, I think I'd choose something that was elegant but more understated. Being a wheelchair user, I'd pick something that looked nice sitting down. Maybe that flamenco top would be just the thing.<br />
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<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-40156680819727022742016-07-19T11:41:00.000-04:002016-07-19T11:41:49.579-04:00Belle Starr, A Dog With a Job<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-pwYaAd80y7mE0CAt8L-kKfWGZPozH3qeN3DDoh0t_uP4i1PwRclBdFxa7O0Xl5r6hPC9plCfcpIZQAQ4f5nyBuhPvl0DFHyVYlIs-3ilzogXWPih2_XV0xDIrdkxipLezAFMfIiC3k/s1600/belle+Mt+Vernon+porch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-pwYaAd80y7mE0CAt8L-kKfWGZPozH3qeN3DDoh0t_uP4i1PwRclBdFxa7O0Xl5r6hPC9plCfcpIZQAQ4f5nyBuhPvl0DFHyVYlIs-3ilzogXWPih2_XV0xDIrdkxipLezAFMfIiC3k/s320/belle+Mt+Vernon+porch.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
I'd like to introduce Belle Starr. She' s my new puppy and a service dog in training.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQvjB4ZTC2Z_1hF0G5JfqsfUmKwNoj8VysUz9NVqnTn5Q91COkSTPqQ9JOMNG9y_vUSgkMrX3eVA3fj2s-TPisbkyDUQXjq1uXjku64yLmHknTGOwseP8g12m4Flr47Khyphenhyphen3DtrCzz2Cs/s1600/Belle+and+blankie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQvjB4ZTC2Z_1hF0G5JfqsfUmKwNoj8VysUz9NVqnTn5Q91COkSTPqQ9JOMNG9y_vUSgkMrX3eVA3fj2s-TPisbkyDUQXjq1uXjku64yLmHknTGOwseP8g12m4Flr47Khyphenhyphen3DtrCzz2Cs/s320/Belle+and+blankie.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
As you can see, she was the cutest puppy ever.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1QN-eC6mvjL5lrWo7BMLnu2hN3Bez0rnw4xbmMTRhmVg3Lv2vltd1ftgw81TxJhYilEBDhJdDvYNc9wDkNC5bpuCaP-auE9mnxpxlIMvypAr6xWqzyK0t1q9rSas6JcywSg819-o99k/s1600/Belle+Shaking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1QN-eC6mvjL5lrWo7BMLnu2hN3Bez0rnw4xbmMTRhmVg3Lv2vltd1ftgw81TxJhYilEBDhJdDvYNc9wDkNC5bpuCaP-auE9mnxpxlIMvypAr6xWqzyK0t1q9rSas6JcywSg819-o99k/s320/Belle+Shaking.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>
She shows an early aptitude for shaking.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCySZmL8XgtMxUDkU8ZUebR9J901cKkLgcOTQ3IV1iOFFP8guUdlIR1DxqQQv-N0LXHJcYDBhQtXdbgBRmhjOcWHfmB_lc2yvB86DOkDWxxHuW79aGjTPTxFcSS9pP_jIYFZo38KbgkQY/s1600/Belle+with+Slipper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCySZmL8XgtMxUDkU8ZUebR9J901cKkLgcOTQ3IV1iOFFP8guUdlIR1DxqQQv-N0LXHJcYDBhQtXdbgBRmhjOcWHfmB_lc2yvB86DOkDWxxHuW79aGjTPTxFcSS9pP_jIYFZo38KbgkQY/s320/Belle+with+Slipper.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belle likes to steal slippers<br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5DkMibXZmJv29rQqbRHcQCH2jzbuZoIFUwk-At2urCKX1fdpi9LhNKyyWLvqBYmiTiTPRsjSluwYLDvR0nhbTAc2ZvUXJufUr2BF9vfAQ_hTCR_eNNBlkbwCjLhC-EuJgwPgFxVXW-o/s1600/Boxing+lessons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5DkMibXZmJv29rQqbRHcQCH2jzbuZoIFUwk-At2urCKX1fdpi9LhNKyyWLvqBYmiTiTPRsjSluwYLDvR0nhbTAc2ZvUXJufUr2BF9vfAQ_hTCR_eNNBlkbwCjLhC-EuJgwPgFxVXW-o/s320/Boxing+lessons.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
Harry is very involved in training Belle in Cat/Dog Manners<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYjZyH06Yi5ipJkuXBzOfwcfICRuoayDiLiAvEGSKLXxGXJkwDq-7jqoh43OtzOFGTT1Z_t6mmEtxuAByZJyCry6RE4w2-fs-aHicGBFBUPKY4VRlI_2nUaGfNzS49d3XkmZZSXAwbAk/s1600/Under+the+table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYjZyH06Yi5ipJkuXBzOfwcfICRuoayDiLiAvEGSKLXxGXJkwDq-7jqoh43OtzOFGTT1Z_t6mmEtxuAByZJyCry6RE4w2-fs-aHicGBFBUPKY4VRlI_2nUaGfNzS49d3XkmZZSXAwbAk/s320/Under+the+table.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
Please read all about how I came to have <a href="http://the-toast.net/2016/06/20/training-my-service-dog/" target="_blank">Belle on The Toast</a>Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-58293167754751372812015-10-03T12:24:00.001-04:002015-10-03T12:26:23.348-04:00Gift Sewing Every year I make some little gifts to put in family and friends' stockings.<br />
This year I've picked these patterns:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/micro-safehotholderspatternbyindygojunction.aspx" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzW_iVYh9xV8-UwIEZbtnuA3Pnug1rYIwlLWXy3TVj7OaprU3qGDyN0e_DSjQhg_aSgffPVXJYSzpJtrmbrySyfGP83NoqG9RaEvwe0UYKmKMSZil8f0e-h0AryzIdSWU7_0NG1i_wy9w/s1600/IJ1102-1.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/micro-safehotholderspatternbyindygojunction.aspx" target="_blank">Hot holders in cute fabrics</a></td></tr>
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The hot holders are great. I made one for my sister and she loves it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNqiYsGK3g_Esi3OowwfS__wP91HtQ0U49CCxQuQ3oOoNjEPJy7iLbqStFa7NCpJTZfyvsLPp8por40_pNFuPGGn7SDXUcKInBIeV2kUdiUosOPtVr6nNpW_VYIolPKo-QvzRUVypiCU/s1600/Hot+holder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNqiYsGK3g_Esi3OowwfS__wP91HtQ0U49CCxQuQ3oOoNjEPJy7iLbqStFa7NCpJTZfyvsLPp8por40_pNFuPGGn7SDXUcKInBIeV2kUdiUosOPtVr6nNpW_VYIolPKo-QvzRUVypiCU/s320/Hot+holder.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/bedtimebootspatternbyindygojunction.aspx" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmjkQYdN5tyFQcFNKHYjLwcXjfsOlcgtf40YQxRVy4Klj5s4HoN77Lq-g6J-NP1PqjEKa-FVLPhRqVIwNHDotQ-mCWuQqkGdfMI-sTh5mSSSQmEhkzNikkUOEVVx0mgcOGgZwuqGu68U/s1600/PIJ1122-1.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/bedtimebootspatternbyindygojunction.aspx" target="_blank">Fun slippers in recycled sweaters</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/clearlycutebeautycasespatternbyindygojunction.aspx" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnDDSD4s7pwy1Y8OCZkw3CI9VEn5L_7zZrUwPC2zIiwWWUTJgHrMET8lN9gWN8AHXsVEpKGBMfbPk-khAjKFGYCHui1H8qYoLXOUYs81jGJQR5Z1fRGzedS0-yhAhqQqZsJ070cNviBA/s1600/PIJ1127-1.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/clearlycutebeautycasespatternbyindygojunction.aspx" target="_blank">Makeup cases in vinyl and cute fabric</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/runaroundbagpatternbylazygirldesigns.aspx" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJAFw-8GX9Gp0dYKx4w36Hw8WEOU0kwbvIaj1pox5TGoOhNduTI8EImoG0EVa-XhQ6sJMPlSe0qqXOCQOwxi7vvgtWUj5mFciM4ndzqmY3aiXz6BvGoMQPyjAN-X8as8uw19_Y_3jd8w/s1600/runaround+bag.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/runaroundbagpatternbylazygirldesigns.aspx" target="_blank">Runaround bags are the perfect size for Kindle carriers</a></td></tr>
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What are you planning to make?</div>
Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-65898595564755311552015-06-30T16:37:00.001-04:002015-06-30T16:37:46.341-04:00King George I: Party Planning Visionary<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjF8IVWWjWZziCIXVPY0DZWlDiJDYkZZgTDmmmfkxEGZh6EnrGJwe_Gs3uAp5LP-Un3KVyppIFPeYotMU6C5b22GUlAbqCBnvrhMl09krV0XsRIqqp8SFTBiwArVjpsGVDv0cSRET2SHs/s1600/GeorgIvonGro%25C3%259FbritannienGeorgFriedrichHaendelHamman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjF8IVWWjWZziCIXVPY0DZWlDiJDYkZZgTDmmmfkxEGZh6EnrGJwe_Gs3uAp5LP-Un3KVyppIFPeYotMU6C5b22GUlAbqCBnvrhMl09krV0XsRIqqp8SFTBiwArVjpsGVDv0cSRET2SHs/s320/GeorgIvonGro%25C3%259FbritannienGeorgFriedrichHaendelHamman.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handel with King George I, on the first occasion of The Water Music<br />Picture via Wikipedia<br /></td></tr>
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Please enjoy my essay on King George I and the Water Music, published today on The Toast.<a href="http://the-toast.net/2015/06/30/king-george-i-party-planning-visionary/" target="_blank">http://the-toast.net/2015/06/30/king-george-i-party-planning-visionary/</a>Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-69534814318777745992015-06-19T14:44:00.000-04:002015-06-19T14:44:38.761-04:00Sewing As Political Protest"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27.2000007629395px;">You just can't sew a Russian flag while wearing a prisoner's uniform in the middle of Moscow," the deputy chief of police explained to us when we got to the station. "Our country is not a concentration camp or ghetto, but everything has its limits. Sew at home. Are you even certified to sew a Russian flag? Are you even a qualified seamstress?"</span><br />
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"Actually, yes," I said. "I sewed police uniforms for two years, pants like the ones you're wearing. Comfortable, I hope?"</div>
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"The fabric is a little tight," complained the deputy. "Hot."</div>
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<a href="http://www.vice.com/read/pussy-riot-sewing-in-the-streets-618" target="_blank">Pussy Riot using sewing as a form of political protest.</a></div>
Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-86213197528430364362015-06-02T10:06:00.002-04:002015-06-02T17:06:21.468-04:00Cat Aliases, Or the Science of Cat Naming<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb14R-_QDPuVcVBunJpZz1xFIr42hxtGsn-lzgKWTpVDGU0D1Y5CSRb7uuLurqKXdZa1WZRxV5OdIvJ5zTK1F6AjYws-jbnMa6V3x0GgxCALh0_xUW8_YrrV6qQzayrfCt_Pd6-3V-ovw/s1600/TS+Eliot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb14R-_QDPuVcVBunJpZz1xFIr42hxtGsn-lzgKWTpVDGU0D1Y5CSRb7uuLurqKXdZa1WZRxV5OdIvJ5zTK1F6AjYws-jbnMa6V3x0GgxCALh0_xUW8_YrrV6qQzayrfCt_Pd6-3V-ovw/s1600/TS+Eliot.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Book Cover:<i><b> Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats </b></i>by T.S.Eliot. His work on the subject of cat naming broke new ground in the field.</td></tr>
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Anyone who has ever known a cat knows that
cats don't always come when we call them. We may mistakenly think that our cats
are either arrogant or stupid, but the truth may be that they're using, albeit
clumsily, B.F. Skinner’s conditioning methods to teach us to stop calling them
by dumb people-given names. They might consider names like “Smokey” or “Whiskers”
as just their aliases - their nom de la maison, so to speak. They do not
recognize these as their “names”. They are like Miranda Priestley, their
attitude being: “Bore someone else with your problems, human.”</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WQ1hCa_Xvozu8ohpH3UCPXvQgrWRMmT9cKYYdA99qqLIoKqQ7tkRX-4N3MWVzfnfESv2ERCk30I8dV1m_AoozmalK79oRHyHx-bbCiPjthd4KtDHSUwYFoV5YukEtR0WKHktJEYeKJY/s1600/Animal-Cat-Korean-painting-autumn-cat-with-chrysanthemum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WQ1hCa_Xvozu8ohpH3UCPXvQgrWRMmT9cKYYdA99qqLIoKqQ7tkRX-4N3MWVzfnfESv2ERCk30I8dV1m_AoozmalK79oRHyHx-bbCiPjthd4KtDHSUwYFoV5YukEtR0WKHktJEYeKJY/s320/Animal-Cat-Korean-painting-autumn-cat-with-chrysanthemum.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Korean Painting: Cat with Chrysanthemums (ignoring humans)</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Some might say that cat names and behavior are
a frivolous subject, but no less an exalted personage than T.S. Eliot has written
extensively the importance of Cat Naming:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> “</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Naming
of Cats is a difficult matter,<br />
It isn't just one of your holiday games<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><i>You may think at first
I'm as mad as a hatter<br />
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Eliot was a pioneer in
the field of cat naming, and his work on this important subject inspired the
play <i>Cats, </i>to the delight and/or
dismay of many<i>.</i> It’s been a neglected
but now newly important issue for modern science and we would do well to give
it the heightened scrutiny our modern age requires. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbrCk_UDoXHr4CMp1ZCcThPOzOY3FngD5CIRB2n6DG1UKzs3uFebIVUhqQKicFmKnomKsVEPIHhqtvDrQ2Aap-9QakQaS4al4lLB7i0pBiWOA07wCZlveXopx7S1fXwcZB0_lww4IERc/s1600/Art-Painting-Animal-Cat-Cats-on-a-roof-Ri%25C3%25B1a-de-gatos-780x217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="89" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbrCk_UDoXHr4CMp1ZCcThPOzOY3FngD5CIRB2n6DG1UKzs3uFebIVUhqQKicFmKnomKsVEPIHhqtvDrQ2Aap-9QakQaS4al4lLB7i0pBiWOA07wCZlveXopx7S1fXwcZB0_lww4IERc/s320/Art-Painting-Animal-Cat-Cats-on-a-roof-Ri%25C3%25B1a-de-gatos-780x217.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cats
on the Roof Goya 1786-1787, reenacting a scene from <i>Cats</i></span></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> I’m not a scientist myself, but I trained to
do scientific research in college. But more importantly, my family has always
had cats. I come from a long line of cat-loving people, and we always took the business
of naming our cats (actually the giving of cat aliases seriously.) No simple “Socks” for us;
we had cats named after my brother’s second grade teacher (Mrs. Stewart; both the
cat and the woman had eyes of that lovely golden hazel color) and cats named
for their specific personality. We had a particularly naughty white cat named “Billy
Bother”, which is a name so awesome in retrospect that I think it should be the
title of a children’s picture book. My college companion cat was a handsome all
black shorthair named Monty Python. We take cat names seriously in my family,
as we all should.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqqmqcnlRs5Lg1tpJgsMzl3vcCnI-9lRBZdK67GPOrIOGJnekUQ0CWMhXZZUQ4Zo7v6RjI9gkNwoxwsFPFxHC_jhJHEVz9g0oyfA06-DAi-8ZLGVOmOvDp3NqmZm6MkwY5AURWeoiTO4/s1600/Monty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqqmqcnlRs5Lg1tpJgsMzl3vcCnI-9lRBZdK67GPOrIOGJnekUQ0CWMhXZZUQ4Zo7v6RjI9gkNwoxwsFPFxHC_jhJHEVz9g0oyfA06-DAi-8ZLGVOmOvDp3NqmZm6MkwY5AURWeoiTO4/s1600/Monty.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monty Python. 1977-1995 RIP World's Finest Cat</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Science has recently taken up and continued
Eliot’s groundbreaking work on cat naming and behavior, showing renewed
interest in the subject. These scientists (perhaps dog owning scientists?) have
long wondered why dogs, (reliable, affectionate, open–hearted dogs! Sterling
pets!) always come when they are called, sometimes even when they aren’t
called, anticipating our every dog-related desire like the enablers they are,
but cats almost never do. (I like to imagine the cats in this experiment
thinking of the dogs as needy, brown-nosing toadies. “You little fools!” thinks
Grumpy Cat in her cold, cold voice.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">After the experiment the
scientists were able to prove that cats do in fact hear us when we call them by
name, and yes, they recognize our voices, <b>but they just don’t care enough to
get up and see what we want.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “These results indicate that cats do not
actively respond with communicative behavior to owners who are calling them
from out of sight, even though they can distinguish their owners’ voices”,
write Saito and Shinozuka. “This cat–owner relationship is in contrast to that
with dogs.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please note the puzzlement of the
researchers. Obviously they are unfamiliar with basic cat etiquette. Cats do
not wait breathlessly to fulfill your every cat-related desire. They are not
dogs! Page one of <i>Emily Purrst’s Guide to
Pet Etiquette</i> clearly states that, “One must not expect doglike behavior
from one’s cat, or one will be condemned to eternal disappointment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Any cat owner in history could have
told them this without them going to all the bother of hooking up all of their
fancy electronic equipment, but at least now we have Scientific Proof that cats
DGAF what we want. To paraphrase a different book: your cat is just not that
into you.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoIax-11nmHTy8ZsFP9H2XN78AK0bcvpEvgkCtZI9KROdVP67DxrxkoPijX1vkvgQCGk6DoIB_nubC7Ibk2DOx5VejtvdDvES6gLBoBGb7xD4-E2LQsBYuX-7eCGGo_CUeMVU8cTl5Jk/s1600/Animal+-+Cat+-+White+cat+pen+and+ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoIax-11nmHTy8ZsFP9H2XN78AK0bcvpEvgkCtZI9KROdVP67DxrxkoPijX1vkvgQCGk6DoIB_nubC7Ibk2DOx5VejtvdDvES6gLBoBGb7xD4-E2LQsBYuX-7eCGGo_CUeMVU8cTl5Jk/s320/Animal+-+Cat+-+White+cat+pen+and+ink.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pen and Ink, White Cat Ignoring His Owners calling Him, Even Though He Hears Them</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The best part of their study is the
wistful tone of their conclusion:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“ although “dogs are
perceived by their owners as being more affectionate than cats […] dog owners
and cat owners do not differ significantly in their reported attachment level
to their pets”. The study concludes by observing that “the behavioural aspect
of cats that cause their owners to become attached to them are still
undetermined.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meaning: We don’t have any rational explanation why people
love their cats. Their cats clearly do nothing to encourage them. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The applications of this study to human
interpersonal relationships are wisely left unsaid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Other research by
cat behavioral specialists tells us that cats don’t meow to other cats. Cats
meow to communicate with humans. Kittens meow to communicate with their
mothers, but adult cats only “talk” to humans this way. Cats use other methods
to communicate with other cats; including special body language, hissing, and
growling, but they only vocalize with us. Maybe this is the reason most cats
look patient and sometimes slightly exasperated when dealing with humans: they
have to use baby talk to communicate with us and we are so bad at understanding
what they are trying to say. Some scientists speculate that our communication problems
with cats originate in the fact that humans did not domesticate cats the way
that we did dogs. Due to centuries of human domestication and selection, our
dogs know us in a way no other species does. Dogs are quite skilled at interpreting
human behavior, aware of the meaning of gestures and very willing to please.
Cats, opportunistic takers that they are, domesticated themselves to gain
access to free food and shelter and obviously feel that they are not obligated
to do anything more for these things because they are gracing us with their
presence. If we were in a relationship counseling session with our cats, the
therapist would ask us why we stayed with a partner who expected us to do all
of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">the work in the
relationship, but made no extra effort to please us.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYbdJ-qiVizzlyxgxya3QyfLu0HNrZhj2Yg-awT5Z8ujLUQgje8jVg1ymVgWpft0RnBTfsXQjbzLBP5MpSOncp2j6UZgnm2qSbdOwueT4mPSb29TVB7HuqAnyDd7aeNhfk4pp_3egwqA/s1600/Mme+DeRosiers+and+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYbdJ-qiVizzlyxgxya3QyfLu0HNrZhj2Yg-awT5Z8ujLUQgje8jVg1ymVgWpft0RnBTfsXQjbzLBP5MpSOncp2j6UZgnm2qSbdOwueT4mPSb29TVB7HuqAnyDd7aeNhfk4pp_3egwqA/s320/Mme+DeRosiers+and+cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mme Desroziers with her cat. Please note the annoyed expression on Miette's face.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> After I learned
that cats communicate with us in the parent-child context it suddenly made
sense why more women than men have an affinity to cats: we’re used to dealing
with sullen uncommunicative beings with entitlement issues. But I digress.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqAyNJUpesFG0r5HNEhc5ugRvWQlko1KToZzLIn1fZ8O_di1OZsVLjaIvVFv78Td34urwsECsmTtM7dj1u2zeCMUF0eHfDtxM4FKzpPvEkX1OzKCcxMcO6mPUf6Sexvp_fManxUKad9Q/s1600/Animal-Cat-Cat-with-bird-painting-1024x769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqAyNJUpesFG0r5HNEhc5ugRvWQlko1KToZzLIn1fZ8O_di1OZsVLjaIvVFv78Td34urwsECsmTtM7dj1u2zeCMUF0eHfDtxM4FKzpPvEkX1OzKCcxMcO6mPUf6Sexvp_fManxUKad9Q/s320/Animal-Cat-Cat-with-bird-painting-1024x769.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat With Bird, Painting. Bruno Liljefors, 1883. Domestic and feral cats kill millions of birds every year.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> With the invention
of tiny lightweight cameras and GPS trackers, suddenly scientists had the tools
they needed to solve the eternal mystery of what the heck cats do all day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The scientists who did
the Surrey study put a little thought into it: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> '<span style="background: white;">GPS
uses a lot of power, but we could only use a small battery, so in order to save
energy, we used an activity sensor to trigger the GPS only when the cat
was moving. This also saved us from collecting a lot of uninteresting data on
sleeping cats."<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzP_h8xzYLCZ-QwD95Zqqk64Rp1ZN3pz3AfnRkRERhJsTTKmDZawVY5kZALEGpCltQcHJ6lCECCGP7ghQom1b3-rBig3VXrP88rbJtZpiapRcbbElx8y2SUPtFrkfQ1F5EOR5BxkWSnY/s1600/Art-Painting-Animal-Cat-Sleeping-cat-Renoir-780x539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzP_h8xzYLCZ-QwD95Zqqk64Rp1ZN3pz3AfnRkRERhJsTTKmDZawVY5kZALEGpCltQcHJ6lCECCGP7ghQom1b3-rBig3VXrP88rbJtZpiapRcbbElx8y2SUPtFrkfQ1F5EOR5BxkWSnY/s320/Art-Painting-Animal-Cat-Sleeping-cat-Renoir-780x539.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renoir, Cat Sleeping. Sleeping is their favorite thing to do, followed by ignoring you., destroying flower arrangements, and scratching furniture.</td></tr>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Someone on that team must have cat experience, because what cats do the
most of is nothing, and why waste precious battery time on monitoring cats
doing nothing? </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">So far, the Surrey study scientists have
learned that cats are unfaithful to their owners, (visiting other houses for
food and affection), have distinct habits and territories, and are ruthless,
cold-hearted predators at times (which any cat owner could have told them, but
they needed to find out officially, for Science.)</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsjEMcGK0cH9oswsvyz9yE_FQ4JfmaZTQBJDmyhP3tNKnfDl6bmBWOD1VI3kAuJwxCKTXMkqeZikapVqab_yD55aQ3EZQDCpgeg2DwAnwYA-ENfe0aK9vdaD2uw_yaEhKAq2TAjCyPWY/s1600/Animal-Cat-Painting-Cat-fight-780x604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsjEMcGK0cH9oswsvyz9yE_FQ4JfmaZTQBJDmyhP3tNKnfDl6bmBWOD1VI3kAuJwxCKTXMkqeZikapVqab_yD55aQ3EZQDCpgeg2DwAnwYA-ENfe0aK9vdaD2uw_yaEhKAq2TAjCyPWY/s320/Animal-Cat-Painting-Cat-fight-780x604.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"> Two House Cats Fighting, J.J. Audubon. Unneutered male cats are known to fight ferociously over territory, and sire thousands of unwanted kittens every year.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> The
Cat Tracker Project scientists, not be outdone by a bunch of British scientists,
are doing a study of their own.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> They
are enlisting the help of Citizen Science Cats to gather data from a much
larger and more diverse sample of cats from a variety of locations.<span style="background: white;"> It’s not clear whether or not we’ll learn that
American cats are more independent, or have larger territories, but in the end
we will probably find out that American cats are the same as British cats,
except without their charming accents.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The
best part of their study is this phrase, which I have been saying over and over
again, because it delights me so: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you are concerned
about your cat's privacy, you can have the data published under a cat alias.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> The sweet dear Cat Trackers are concerned
about my cat’s privacy! If we consider the actual level of cat caringness about
issues of personal privacy and recall that all cats are already living under an
alias, we’ll understand this is a completely unnecessary precaution for cat
feelings. Yes, cats have names that we give them, but we don’t know their real cat
names (if in fact cats have names for themselves at all. Cats might not even have
names as we know them, but instead identify each other by their individual
smell. These aren’t dolphins we’re dealing with, people.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> We are right back to T.S. Eliot again, with his
secret cat names. If we think about this rationally, and we should, since this
is for Science, what difference would it make if the study were published
listing your cat under her common name “Tiger” versus her alias “Madam Meow”?
Cats don’t read. They won’t be talking amongst themselves about what Mr. Pickles
was up to last weekend. What we are really worried about is <i>our</i> privacy. Cats, as always, Do Not
Care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> The Cat Tracker statement inspired me to invent
some possible Cat Aliases, which I present to fellow Citizen Science Cats for
their use, if they desire to protect their Cat Privacy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Ming
the Merciless (After the evil emperor in the Flash Gordon serial)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Benedict
Cumbercat (this name should require no explanation)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Shere
Khan (The tiger in <i>The Jungle Book</i>) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Harry Longpaw (Harry Longpaw is a punning name for Harry
Longabaugh, the actual name of the Sundance Kid. My own ginger cat is named
Harry Longpaw because he looks like Robert Redford. No, really, he does. See
for yourself. The resemblance is uncanny.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8ikmDJ15vj4GdaZ6CxBsRJYHj5SjHn2CbSDmWCnj-KQn4rGL4UZMHYh7K_q49NdappYVdlCeiD40mfxqI8h_5O3-StNfqDJ7FWRpQogFcEQVorqHki-J78uUPEM2cPAFDiPRXbMz-kA/s1600/harry+L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8ikmDJ15vj4GdaZ6CxBsRJYHj5SjHn2CbSDmWCnj-KQn4rGL4UZMHYh7K_q49NdappYVdlCeiD40mfxqI8h_5O3-StNfqDJ7FWRpQogFcEQVorqHki-J78uUPEM2cPAFDiPRXbMz-kA/s1600/harry+L.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #548dd4; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"> Harry Longpaw. Harry did not pose for this picture. He was staring at a giant killer wasp which was, unbeknownst to me, right behind me as I took this picture.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_v8H66xNw1CRX-ZwkSoKxxqsSefm6W6vng3430Y8VEv0XDAGFANtWYnCyhHnGXRyarZmSbqfGFMV_Cr_E6pD8kiX_WORsjcGg4e4xpHj_CORayyU2bFILUAUXErdvzVxjBG51gfoUJw/s1600/RR+Sundance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_v8H66xNw1CRX-ZwkSoKxxqsSefm6W6vng3430Y8VEv0XDAGFANtWYnCyhHnGXRyarZmSbqfGFMV_Cr_E6pD8kiX_WORsjcGg4e4xpHj_CORayyU2bFILUAUXErdvzVxjBG51gfoUJw/s1600/RR+Sundance.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid, Harry Longabaugh. Photo courtesy World Biography</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Eartha
Kitten (Eartha Kitt played the Catwoman on the Adam West </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Batman </i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">series, and she was also a wonderful jazz singer.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cat
Power (The actual name of a singer-songwriter)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Andrew
Lloyd Webber (He was just asking to be a Cat Alias by writing <i>Cats</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sergeant Tibbs (He was the cat who helped save
the puppies from Cruella DeVille in <i>One
Hundred and One Dalmatians.</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Abelard (He was the ginger cat in <i>I Capture the Castle)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Minerva McGonagall (She was an Animagus who
transformed into a lovely silver tabby <i>in
Harry Potter I-VII)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_19" o:spid="_x0000_i1027" style="height: 164.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 245.25pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\kcooper\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image012.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Calvin
Coolidge (The President reportedly used to hide his two cats in various
locations in the White House for his wife to find. What a practical joker!
Knowing this Cat Fact about Coolidge has upgraded my estimation of him several
points ahead of Franklin Pierce, whose cat preferences are unknown.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8ue2GKk8iyeBRs36qHjISQtg9FAcAaHMEb85cWwgwW2QYF9zg3q0fAGTeezsJlBTRP_x6ny2VFXi87P0ZGj8w9WVx5hFsZhqgy_xFtd9nwOk73eMfhjDDsVXK4RgIzOGBRegZy66Umk/s1600/coolidge-cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8ue2GKk8iyeBRs36qHjISQtg9FAcAaHMEb85cWwgwW2QYF9zg3q0fAGTeezsJlBTRP_x6ny2VFXi87P0ZGj8w9WVx5hFsZhqgy_xFtd9nwOk73eMfhjDDsVXK4RgIzOGBRegZy66Umk/s320/coolidge-cat.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Calvin Coolidge with a cat that wants to get away</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Judge
Posner (The Judge is a huge cat person, and he speaks highly of his Maine Coon
named Pixie. He would probably be flattered if his name were used as a cat
alias.)</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKy1PQjLKxxszisIe-RhJObRN0QP-lqXFr74jzzwn-9wMXjgs3sXOzd0HF8QhATeazTGbX9PNV0sAoLpB24CfGKv0-oUIPvlVD5cp5kmCUF2926iLHZz7VyfKF14q0Cck_ipXwIj7bZs/s1600/Pixie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKy1PQjLKxxszisIe-RhJObRN0QP-lqXFr74jzzwn-9wMXjgs3sXOzd0HF8QhATeazTGbX9PNV0sAoLpB24CfGKv0-oUIPvlVD5cp5kmCUF2926iLHZz7VyfKF14q0Cck_ipXwIj7bZs/s320/Pixie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Pixie, Judge Posner's Maine Coon Cat. Picture by Judge Posner. Pixie is holding down the NY Times. Courtesy whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After you have enrolled your Citizen Science
Cat in the project under a suitable alias, being as considerate of your cat’s
privacy as a decent cat guardian should be, you can be assured that the ensuing
fame that any cat citizen might gain from participating in this experiment will
not change your cat in any way. Because what we have learned from multiple
studies and anecdotal experience is that our cats Do Not Care. They don’t care
about us as people, however affectionate they seem. It would be much shorter to
list what they do care about: themselves. Cats are the uber-takers, and Ayn
Rand would be proud of their self-interestedness. (She was also a cat fancier,
as a self-respecting Randite would be.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> It’s
clear now to both science and the general public that cats hold all the power
in our codependent relationships, while we have only the Friskies on our side to
bind them to us. This kind of power imbalance should be of great interest to
science, and maybe one day we will discover how to make them love us as much as
we love them. The whole situation sounds like it should be in a letter to Dear
Prudie: “How can I tell if my cat cares?” Answer: He doesn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">T.S. Eliot,
The Naming of Cats, </span><a href="http://allpoetry.com/The-Naming-Of-Cats"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">http://allpoetry.com/The-Naming-Of-Cats</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cats-recognise-their-owners-voices-but-never-evolved-to-care-says-study-8966580.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cats-recognise-their-owners-voices-but-never-evolved-to-care-says-study-8966580.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Secret Life
of the Cat </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cat Tracker
Project: </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://cats.yourwildlife.org/project-description/">http://cats.yourwildlife.org/project-description/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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A portion of this essay was previously <a href="http://airshipdaily.com/blog/09252014-t-s-eliot-naming-cats" target="_blank">published here </a>http://airshipdaily.com/blog/09252014-t-s-eliot-naming-cats</div>
Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-84854561390490163402015-05-15T08:50:00.001-04:002015-05-15T15:33:20.296-04:00Are We All Still "Beginners"?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IMiIQsXv2_KB5OBw5-GC-UhiWOwTKCynihcUnwMKXfeqSyIUWHb7nCKL65Wagt7zVf6E4tixlZJTfOy-F-wQZktaFnZvlpQREvPDRaVN4VN7oH2KCSpKJIWLLOIB1SGOplr_CWqC7V0/s1600/KC+Puerto+Rico+76.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IMiIQsXv2_KB5OBw5-GC-UhiWOwTKCynihcUnwMKXfeqSyIUWHb7nCKL65Wagt7zVf6E4tixlZJTfOy-F-wQZktaFnZvlpQREvPDRaVN4VN7oH2KCSpKJIWLLOIB1SGOplr_CWqC7V0/s320/KC+Puerto+Rico+76.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me at 17, wearing a top and jeans I made myself<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Some of us have been sewing a long time, but still think of ourselves as beginners, or maybe just intermediate level sewists. But I've been thinking maybe we do ourselves a disservice. Sewing involves so many skills, there's no way if asked that I would call myself "advanced", yet this picture shows that at age 17 I felt confident enough to sew jeans with a fly and a waistband (pretty good fit too, if I say so myself), a fitted empire waist top with set in sleeves, and a button in back with a hand made loop. Not too shabby at 17. But I didn't know that these things were considered difficult, I just sewed the things I liked and kept learning as I went along.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9tcp12ql_YvKi0iyhL9SCbwK7_AMbLrWMnzDQdlkaKk0HLRupW-8CLYpuGEykAuYN8OQqOQ-md_hMBmgBE5IBy9hpQsQiwTobzQCYJiHh3GgcultiiqLSodu1YxFtI_-VnFWw5l5Wbo/s1600/Kathi++in+yellow+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9tcp12ql_YvKi0iyhL9SCbwK7_AMbLrWMnzDQdlkaKk0HLRupW-8CLYpuGEykAuYN8OQqOQ-md_hMBmgBE5IBy9hpQsQiwTobzQCYJiHh3GgcultiiqLSodu1YxFtI_-VnFWw5l5Wbo/s320/Kathi++in+yellow+dress.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In yellow crepe formal<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you don't know something is supposed to be difficult, or you have crazy teenage confidence, you'll try new things all the time. I made several formals when I was in high school and college, and never thought twice about how they might be more difficult than just sewing a dress, because my mother said,"oh they are just longer dresses". This one is crepe, with a high collar that rolled over (I forget the name) empire waist ( that was the style then) back zipper, long sleeves gathered into cuffs and a full lining. I hand-hemmed the bottom, and I recall it took a long time because the skirt was full and I was taking care that the stitches didn't show, and I had to hem both the lining and the outside.<br />
Those set in sleeves look smooth and unpuckered , and the fit looks good. Well done, 17 year old me.<br />
But on a survey the other day, the question was, "what level sewist are you?" and I thought "Advanced Beginner, or Intermediate" when clearly that's not exactly true. But most sewists would say the same, because the more we know, the more we know what we don't know. Sewing has so many levels, there is no way to know everything. I'd never tell anyone I was "advanced" because in my mind that would mean I could do tailoring, or make a suit, and I've never done those things before even though, with the right instructions, I think I could. Would that make me "advanced"? No, then I'd think about how I don't know how to do smocking or heirloom sewing or whatever challenge I'd never done before.<br />
<br />
Maybe I still think of myself as an advanced beginner because I still make mistakes (even though no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.) Just this last year I've made the following bone-headed errors:<br />
<br />
1. set in a sleeve backwards<br />
2. sewed the wrong sides together on pants (both front side seams to each other-oops)<br />
3. Put in a zipper upside down<br />
4. sewed the bottom of the skirt to the bodice, instead of the top. (in my defense, they both looked almost the same, but still, label your pieces, people. Learn from my mistakes.)<br />
<br />
Although upon further reflection, I see that these are not errors in which I lack skills so much as I get distracted and lack mindfulness. Perhaps my weakness is a lack of concentration, or perhaps sewing hubris? (As in, this is EASY, I've done this before, no need to focus here?)<br />
<br />
On<a href="https://www.coletterie.com/inspiration/are-you-really-a-beginner" target="_blank"> Colette's blog </a>this morning, she wrote about the difficulty in rating patterns, which made me think, What level am I <i>really?</i> Compared to a real beginner, I'm an advanced sewist. I could probably sew a boned ball gown or a tailored jacket if I were so inclined. (Maybe we should rank ourselves not by beginner, intermediate or advanced, but instead by <i>hubris</i> levels? Like instead of those labels we use:<br />
<br />
Instead of Beginner, <b><i>Timid</i> </b>= I'm scared, hold my hand.<br />
Instead of Advanced Beginner,<i> <b>Overconfident </b></i>= I'm not afraid to make a huge mistake.<br />
Instead of Intermediate, <i><b>Seasoned</b></i> = I know enough to know where my weaknesses are.<br />
Instead of Advanced, <i><b>Patient</b></i> = I pay attention to what I'm doing and am a more mindful sewist.<br />
<br />
What about you? Do you still think of yourself as a beginner? Would you ever say you had advanced skills? What new definitions would you use?Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-13634996038091351252015-02-19T15:59:00.001-05:002015-02-19T15:59:33.056-05:00Throwback Thursday: Lucia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFGLvcMEHrnzfFE9HFFco5ELgsvDQvA-6is8dWga6KYdInEVAp2E9rfGp13VFKLj8Q9xDbCH4sqIxTfKGTcAjXFAYw6UPLbrW60FzLEGtDPabKMwT_4-_OA6C39BQQxSB86vSUowQFMQ/s1600/Lucy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFGLvcMEHrnzfFE9HFFco5ELgsvDQvA-6is8dWga6KYdInEVAp2E9rfGp13VFKLj8Q9xDbCH4sqIxTfKGTcAjXFAYw6UPLbrW60FzLEGtDPabKMwT_4-_OA6C39BQQxSB86vSUowQFMQ/s1600/Lucy.jpg" height="177" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is picture of my great grandmother Lucy, (her full name was Lucia, a common name in Sicily), taken around 1904-1906. Grandma Lucy had emigrated to the US from Sicily around 1900, in the great wave of Sicilians leaving poverty and lack of opportunity to come to America.<br />
<br />
I met her once when I was about nine; she was learning then how to write in English well enough so she could finally take her US Citizenship test. She had been too busy raising my grandmother and her six other children to take it when she was younger.<br />
<br />
I love her sensible shoes.<br />
<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-61014515558398214402015-02-17T10:40:00.002-05:002015-02-17T10:40:40.611-05:00My Weekly Reader<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXARJ3pwPnh0lLg1_LPQtLEI188jCNz_dPtIwe6rvqYxrM3FoaWCXJRLjRKbmfpcQVejEiTmoBVezjlfcQ4gfT-z8B8BwD9OenmNBt73BgJCsinxImsQKKTcCs0GKZFmGr2Rd3tdopJsM/s1600/Matisse+Cut-outs_26B7_3082_77-7-X-35_banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXARJ3pwPnh0lLg1_LPQtLEI188jCNz_dPtIwe6rvqYxrM3FoaWCXJRLjRKbmfpcQVejEiTmoBVezjlfcQ4gfT-z8B8BwD9OenmNBt73BgJCsinxImsQKKTcCs0GKZFmGr2Rd3tdopJsM/s1600/Matisse+Cut-outs_26B7_3082_77-7-X-35_banner.jpg" height="98" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from the National Gallery of Art Exhibit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I loved this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/06/arts/a-walk-through-the-gallery-henri-matisse-the-cut-outs-at-the-museum-of-modern-art-in-new-york.html?_r=1" target="_blank">walk through of the Matisse exhibit</a>.<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Surgery had left Matisse debilitated, basically chair- and bed-bound.
Painting and sculpture had become difficult. His solution was almost
child-simple. He picked up more manageable materials and tools: sheets of paper
paint-washed by assistants, sturdy scissors and plain tailor pins"</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
Proof that you have to make your art with the tools you have, to paraphrase a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6901.Itzhak_Perlman" target="_blank">famous musician.</a><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/men-care-more-about-having-fancy-kitchens-women-180954251/?utm_source=twitter.com&no-ist" target="_blank">Men care more about out fancy kitchens than women do.</a></span><br />
<br />
Well of course they do. In this survey, they asked single women and single men. My guess would be single men would see a fancy kitchen as a trophy, and women would see it as a workspace,<br />
Just a theory. Women don't dream of kitchens, sexist researcher people. Kitchens =work to most women. We've been stuck in there for centuries. We'd like to spend less time there, on the whole.<br />
Just sayin'<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/cabaret-beat" target="_blank">story behind Irving Berlin's</a> "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLh-m1Z_feY" target="_blank">Always</a>" is even more romantic than I imagined.<br />
<br />
It snowed six inches last night, which is small potatoes compared to New England, but is a state of emergency for Virginia. Stay warm!<br />
<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-20239965670065675102015-02-13T09:45:00.000-05:002015-02-13T09:45:34.328-05:00Proof of Time Travel<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
Cora Brown-Potter was a famous beauty, admired by the Prince
of Wales<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZuwbsOG7Go9VaT56I22boNp1Hh4IAYzSPHEFWVlUKpHeUFb9ECwC6MFsNU6j2pKq_buQ0V4w99UTCD5W8MtWGgO-Rfsk2C8oWsUKU77fbz6hntOFs3pMMTXcfc3PrbUm58eaun55Aoo/s1600/Cora+Potter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZuwbsOG7Go9VaT56I22boNp1Hh4IAYzSPHEFWVlUKpHeUFb9ECwC6MFsNU6j2pKq_buQ0V4w99UTCD5W8MtWGgO-Rfsk2C8oWsUKU77fbz6hntOFs3pMMTXcfc3PrbUm58eaun55Aoo/s1600/Cora+Potter.jpg" height="320" width="199" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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She looks a lot like me:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXsfurhzVFO4gbGamdhOZtcp48YXLS6bSvtplGpOlKn1lVZzKHGYpgYRr-ygax_G5kcuZHVFmp0bhFF5YD1OePYBDk10t4BdiBJeYOe9wN_D-PnR3mHGUrxeU8CDvIFyvI7GS4O7auXI/s1600/Cora+and+Kathi+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXsfurhzVFO4gbGamdhOZtcp48YXLS6bSvtplGpOlKn1lVZzKHGYpgYRr-ygax_G5kcuZHVFmp0bhFF5YD1OePYBDk10t4BdiBJeYOe9wN_D-PnR3mHGUrxeU8CDvIFyvI7GS4O7auXI/s1600/Cora+and+Kathi+6.jpg" /></a></div>
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</v:imagedata></v:shape><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The pictures on the right are Cora. The pictures on the left
are of me. These were taken almost 100 years apart.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Other evidence:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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She lived in Tuxedo Park, NY. I have been to a wedding in
Tuxedo Park.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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She was admired by the Prince of Wales. A former president's son once flirted with me. And several Congressmen (but for this, I admit, the bar is low.) Also the <a href="http://www.dalailama.com/" target="_blank">Dalai Lama</a> (although he may just have been really sweet. It's hard to tell.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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She became an actress in London. I was once asked to pose by a photographer from a famous men's magazine. (I declined. My father had, shall we say, objections.) </div>
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<br /></div>
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She had a daughter. I have a daughter.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Her husband popularized the Tuxedo. My husband looks great
in a Tuxedo.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/fashion/for-tuxedos-blue-is-the-new-black.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/fashion/for-tuxedos-blue-is-the-new-black.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 101.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It was in summer 1886 that James
Brown Potter, a Tuxedo Park resident, and his beautiful wife, Cora Potter, a
Southerner, went to England to meet the Prince of Wales. The prince,
indifferent to American social climbers but fond of pretty women, invited the
Potters to spend the weekend at Sandringham. Dress-code quandaries are nothing
new, and when Mr. Potter asked about what to wear for a country dinner at the
20,000-acre Norfolk estate belonging to the royal family, the prince dispatched
him to his London tailor, Henry Poole & Co.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 101.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Potter returned to Tuxedo Park
wearing the new truncated version of the once-requisite tailcoats, which was
quickly taken up by other members of the club for informal dinners. Eventually,
the new suit went into wider circulation and came to be known as the style that
gents preferred nowadays for dinner “up in Tuxedo.” And in the mystifying
organic way neologisms have of entering the language, the coinage stuck<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Winston Churchill had a <a href="http://www.gingercatpage.com/famous.htm" target="_blank">Ginger Cat named Jock. </a>I have a
Ginger Cat named Harry. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvPxZfeD_FFNFZGcKrcoJA9RScR862trLhOq4j6bx5M9PIxkNaSVA17lJ0Xtg7UjfzjRkYdat54guxrDPsbWhDd_7fK5RKz3PRDEhHhuXAqVPag4QYe831DUYFsrwXvV-NRc-OqIqXEI/s1600/Etta+and+Harry+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvPxZfeD_FFNFZGcKrcoJA9RScR862trLhOq4j6bx5M9PIxkNaSVA17lJ0Xtg7UjfzjRkYdat54guxrDPsbWhDd_7fK5RKz3PRDEhHhuXAqVPag4QYe831DUYFsrwXvV-NRc-OqIqXEI/s1600/Etta+and+Harry+3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harry and Etta in a box because boxes are the coolest<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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I am a Time Lord<o:p></o:p></div>
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Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-91444663242371713062015-02-12T08:27:00.000-05:002015-02-12T08:32:23.827-05:00An Under-Appreciated Resource: Dr. Rose Frisch<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybqcRUP056am5hILHV0BZg4gllbsrcYHNXUHKwzak4csHe0zBFN6q2V1DhlzZPfBiIh0zten9QRljbxzJYJj8hKiFwA_b4MxD0v7zSuUN21unl2FQDxaBN45zDv4gR323qancmgUH5vE/s1600/12FRISCHobit-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybqcRUP056am5hILHV0BZg4gllbsrcYHNXUHKwzak4csHe0zBFN6q2V1DhlzZPfBiIh0zten9QRljbxzJYJj8hKiFwA_b4MxD0v7zSuUN21unl2FQDxaBN45zDv4gR323qancmgUH5vE/s1600/12FRISCHobit-articleLarge.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture of Dr Rose Frisch from the New York Times<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/science/rose-e-frisch-scientist-who-linked-body-fat-to-fertility-dies-at-96.html?_r=0" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 1.4375rem; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Henry Frisch, a physicist, said his mother also benefited from that environment, because, not expecting to receive tenure or equal treatment, she and other women were “free to follow paths that weren’t conventional.”</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/science/rose-e-frisch-scientist-who-linked-body-fat-to-fertility-dies-at-96.html?_r=0" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 1.4375rem; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Still, she was paid so little that her son said the National Institutes of Health once called to say that a grant application she submitted should list her annual salary, not her monthly salary. “That is my annual salary,” she replied.</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 1.4375rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please read Dr. Frisch's obituary, and see if you aren't overcome with frustration at how such a brilliant scientist had to work three times as hard as a man to get the support she needed to continue her work. How many talented women scientists, researchers, professors and others have to leave their work because of lack of financial support, flexible jobs, and tenure?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 1.4375rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">If we want more young people to choose careers in the sciences, stories like hers will hardly encourage them, because associates of mine who are scientists say it is still pretty sexist out there.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 1.4375rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">We can do better.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-13912022500820230182015-01-30T09:22:00.001-05:002015-01-30T14:03:42.752-05:00My Weekly Reader<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7411/16375757942_ae860d580c_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="283" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from Public Domain Review</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d;">What I've been reading this week:</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="http://blog.spoonflower.com/2015/01/diy-yoga-mat-bag.html?utm_source=Spoonflower+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=308753ee51-_307_Groundhog_winner_rockets_voting1_29_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9f6a935e66-308753ee51-88674921" target="_blank">Make your own yoga bag from Spoonflower</a> (I know someone who might like one of these. Maybe you do too?)</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Interesting article about the <a href="http://publicdomainreview.org/2015/01/28/when-chocolate-was-medicine-colmenero-wadsworth-and-dufour/" target="_blank">history of chocolate</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">An amusing article about poor, disadvantaged <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-male-quilters-cafam-manmade-20150125-story.html#page=1" target="_blank">men who quilt, s</a>truggling to have their artistic voices heard.<a href="http://luke%20haynes%2C%20pictured%2C%20says%20there%20is%20no%20gender%20bias%20in%20his%20quiltmaking./" target="_blank"> "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">Luke Haynes, pictured, says there is no gender bias in his quiltmaking."</span></a> </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;">This article is a little bit clueless: men have been sewing for centuries; men sewing and doing art is nothing new. There have always been men who sew, design clothes, quilts, and are textile artists. Do men really need <i>more attention </i>when they do art? Are they really oppressed? </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"> As opposed to our culture's <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/why-i-am-not-a-maker/384767/" target="_blank">long bias toward disrespecting and ignoring the domestic arts of women</a>, who have been making something out of nothing for centuries, with little or no acclaim? Just sayin'.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Relatedly, here's a<a href="http://huntersdesignstudio.com/2015/01/22/an-open-letter-to-the-decemberists-quilts-and-their-makers-have-value/" target="_blank"> controversy about the value (</a>or undervaluing) of handmade art quilts (or any women's art).</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Oh wait, the artist <a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Quilt-Journalist-Tells-All--January-2015.html?soid=1104232497756&aid=-d_3_8GPPFM" target="_blank">undervalued the work herself! </a> Many of us undervalue our work. This is a common mistake. I read an interview once where someone asked <a href="http://www.bryerpatch.com/" target="_blank">Caryl Bryer Fallert</a> how long it had taken her to make a prize winning quilt. She laughed and said she was asked that all the time and her answer always was however many hours/days it took to sew it, <i>plus twenty years of learning how.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;">The artist above should read<a href="http://www.bryerpatch.com/faq/marketing.htm" target="_blank"> Caryl's statement on pricing your work</a>. "<span style="background-color: white;">You are so right, too many people undercharge and give their work away." Yes, they do.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I've had people ask me, when they see a baby quilt I had made as a gift, how much I would charge them to make one for them. I would always say that they could not afford that, I would have to charge them $1000 or more. This has happened several times; the coworker is always shocked and says something like, "But I can get one at Target for $30!" </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Then do that, I'd tell them.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Have a great. (or should I say Super?) weekend.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #000066;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #000066;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #000066;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/1998532/?claim=qqcfhz7p73f">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a></span>
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<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-50214765098329434252015-01-22T16:01:00.000-05:002015-01-22T16:01:14.463-05:00Eat Your Books<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gJoSeZiFBgHwpi4su0kf6PWpMT3LCV2mhtmU9ksbdrZ3N1rpI4WPD41vBUv6IN3aDpdJsCU9tRRfOLDsCJylUXUPvT4nglt6kED6TbM0OMtkjjOM5ZqBu4lt6OeM4r1ugfjDcA52-Ek/s1600/cookbooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gJoSeZiFBgHwpi4su0kf6PWpMT3LCV2mhtmU9ksbdrZ3N1rpI4WPD41vBUv6IN3aDpdJsCU9tRRfOLDsCJylUXUPvT4nglt6kED6TbM0OMtkjjOM5ZqBu4lt6OeM4r1ugfjDcA52-Ek/s1600/cookbooks.jpg" height="320" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The upstairs books ready to be added to the new database<br /></td></tr>
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I read about this new database today in the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-eat-your-books-creates-an-index-to-all-your-cookbooks-20140819-story.html" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a> called <a href="http://www.eatyourbooks.com/" target="_blank">Eat Your Books </a>and immediately wanted to sign up.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 27px;">Fast forward to yesterday when I decided to go to a site I'd discovered weeks before, but never really examined closely. It's called </span><a href="http://www.eatyourbooks.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 27px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Eat Your Books</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 27px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 27px;">and is billed as a search engine for your cookbooks. </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1em; position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px);">
<span style="color: blue;">Sounds too easy: add titles of cookbooks to your “library” and you can search for recipes in any of the books therein. You get to add up to five books for free, which would be fine if that’s all I had. Then again if I only had five cookbooks, I wouldn't need this site at all.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1em; position: relative; width: calc(100% - 340px);">
<span style="color: blue;">But after inputting five books and running a quick search, I quickly saw how easy and useful having all of my considerable collection in the database would be."</span></div>
Earlier this week I wanted to make that old-fashioned chocolate cake that has the chocolate pudding sauce on the bottom, but I couldn't remember the name of the recipe or which cookbook it was in. I had made it before, but I have hundreds of cookbooks (not an exaggeration) and I wasn't sure which one it was lurking in. I must have looked in five or six cookbooks until I found it. But, if I had had the Eat Your Books database, I could have found where it was in under a minute.<br />
It also searches blogs. This might be the best invention ever.<br />
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<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-25192495771830043802015-01-21T08:41:00.000-05:002015-01-21T08:42:59.376-05:00We're Going to Need a Bigger Wall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihv3N0S4Pn68J5QDXbuRG_0dqqKR0kUDa3gZFnq_Db7xLmV1IVCQpwE2Cejn3jwH3RGC4RU46Gn5h62JmafBy5QuEjesckgfcOdInjbkm8UtKUxLik7wCWKR8rmicddcL7wN6_qdGvXPY/s1600/M7103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihv3N0S4Pn68J5QDXbuRG_0dqqKR0kUDa3gZFnq_Db7xLmV1IVCQpwE2Cejn3jwH3RGC4RU46Gn5h62JmafBy5QuEjesckgfcOdInjbkm8UtKUxLik7wCWKR8rmicddcL7wN6_qdGvXPY/s1600/M7103.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDi7KznTKdDXokOetWs4FvMlhBWGh0JtGKKPqJVHOA6UM0U-RKPWTEs51qRmNkt91DDF7OhFVIB377K3fvlHpLW2GaCNfvRiC06BxeMUg7wvM3AKnmbU4PNsVZ7GDadnR-jsVMlvJloUE/s1600/M7103+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDi7KznTKdDXokOetWs4FvMlhBWGh0JtGKKPqJVHOA6UM0U-RKPWTEs51qRmNkt91DDF7OhFVIB377K3fvlHpLW2GaCNfvRiC06BxeMUg7wvM3AKnmbU4PNsVZ7GDadnR-jsVMlvJloUE/s1600/M7103+(1).jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrEWAm_B5NIc3DW_c45t3wM3ePBUO1klNBoKJb91yUy1F9TXfNBGgKirwXATCIK5jLsXitQQR-4bHog1sCVFYNOZ4Jaf2P5He3Si5LVZz0uV12hWRbdwIhrmDLsvPsr5lELI9XTDOSbI/s1600/M7103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrEWAm_B5NIc3DW_c45t3wM3ePBUO1klNBoKJb91yUy1F9TXfNBGgKirwXATCIK5jLsXitQQR-4bHog1sCVFYNOZ4Jaf2P5He3Si5LVZz0uV12hWRbdwIhrmDLsvPsr5lELI9XTDOSbI/s1600/M7103.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
What former Biology major is going to make life size stuffed shark trophy fish and hang them in her office and studio? If that includes you, <a href="http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m7103-products-49298.php?page_id=909" target="_blank">here you go</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7JRhL4IJobyQBNcHWMhSlcUWBmXElbFZ7xcdt4ae3rGYfal6xZV8aj3cWibyEX3-wmbLoaT_uxoG_lE8heIA4wvp7TyAcAT3tHzw2c-hCZ_ZCCkHCIk5IeUHbvvX7SE0a1oMEK3kMfg/s1600/M7103+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7JRhL4IJobyQBNcHWMhSlcUWBmXElbFZ7xcdt4ae3rGYfal6xZV8aj3cWibyEX3-wmbLoaT_uxoG_lE8heIA4wvp7TyAcAT3tHzw2c-hCZ_ZCCkHCIk5IeUHbvvX7SE0a1oMEK3kMfg/s1600/M7103+(2).jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
.Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-3695065266341301322015-01-20T14:21:00.001-05:002015-01-20T14:21:54.439-05:00Spring Pattern Fever<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eQoKcFPmrQpslaxV9i3mGbVakBR0agn3ZHx1kMoUDe3zG1cTcLl9et_Zmzbw1KnBeouFwyFsBcSAAYNP5VzlVfdtZ9QABout3WbbJiTaE8VvPZQ2zq1zisd4K-Hj1XupAJm7vj6fQPg/s1600/V9096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eQoKcFPmrQpslaxV9i3mGbVakBR0agn3ZHx1kMoUDe3zG1cTcLl9et_Zmzbw1KnBeouFwyFsBcSAAYNP5VzlVfdtZ9QABout3WbbJiTaE8VvPZQ2zq1zisd4K-Hj1XupAJm7vj6fQPg/s1600/V9096.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9096-products-49545.php?page_id=174" target="_blank">Vogue 9096</a><br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
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Is this a great Lab coat or what? I'm so happy Vogue is filling the fashion needs of lab techs everywhere.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_7xZ9I13GERxfyUi-ZLKxo5rMnec255spOz7vUzx_egzl96KzTjyr1c0v9q9Vsur1HhBvsPvLjj-Tl4nP8hI5KMNtEAtijIc8Kg-mX7Ncp8TzFaJ92DIIoOKOGqhqlq_Yndc2c6XWo4/s1600/V9089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_7xZ9I13GERxfyUi-ZLKxo5rMnec255spOz7vUzx_egzl96KzTjyr1c0v9q9Vsur1HhBvsPvLjj-Tl4nP8hI5KMNtEAtijIc8Kg-mX7Ncp8TzFaJ92DIIoOKOGqhqlq_Yndc2c6XWo4/s1600/V9089.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9089-products-49538.php?page_id=174" target="_blank">Vogue 9089</a><br />Mr Hunting Creek says it looks like a maternity top. Not that there is anything wrong with that</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GljI_og9AFJEDWxhJPtyRIaxYUivk7Q60ceNb8GREzLCKazIzOUEBHoxyVRNkuiqHbnixUMrL8-n2x69IhD5yqfFOeATo3YbkWVt9oNHPpYfr5uuUH3NYF9IDfXXvzLkXLXOcjVhvqw/s1600/V9097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GljI_og9AFJEDWxhJPtyRIaxYUivk7Q60ceNb8GREzLCKazIzOUEBHoxyVRNkuiqHbnixUMrL8-n2x69IhD5yqfFOeATo3YbkWVt9oNHPpYfr5uuUH3NYF9IDfXXvzLkXLXOcjVhvqw/s1600/V9097.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9097-products-49546.php?page_id=174" target="_blank">Vogue 9097</a> -useful if you are sewing for James Bond</td></tr>
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I'm happy that Vogue is featuring a pattern for men, but hell will freeze over before I make semi formal men's jackets. Just sayin'<br />
Perhaps next time we could see an interesting shirt or pants or non-dinner jacket?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNJ5Ov31K3cm3R_Cs3W3PIM4SRDDzlsCIGF53SRb2SLiAbHtXCPV_l7Vr7RAK8czc9P2kuIR74wtciOqWzIl0lcLuAXsj75jpQGEf14wheqtUbOwjqxhPwttM0Ip29w17raVDqh-Ac3I/s1600/V9087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNJ5Ov31K3cm3R_Cs3W3PIM4SRDDzlsCIGF53SRb2SLiAbHtXCPV_l7Vr7RAK8czc9P2kuIR74wtciOqWzIl0lcLuAXsj75jpQGEf14wheqtUbOwjqxhPwttM0Ip29w17raVDqh-Ac3I/s1600/V9087.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v9087-products-49537.php?page_id=174" target="_blank">Vogue 9087</a><br /><span style="font-size: small;">This one has some interesting seaming details.</span></td></tr>
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But if they tell me to finish the neckline of a silk crepe top with store bought bias tape I'm not doing it.Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-2397810894157393322015-01-17T13:37:00.000-05:002015-01-17T13:41:48.212-05:00String Theory Explained<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEfQNP7NhgZWkiQmeBkytEVhNv9hGJnW8Y7b9BEmqpSAKekT8WPcmHJvizhV-tm9p7bqhXgAqjKOs-k8JjRmKejsKc6CssqpNFonK24WpeXsLDsCFP0sluy2ERAliTcqanDylWw00erc/s1600/Spider+star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEfQNP7NhgZWkiQmeBkytEVhNv9hGJnW8Y7b9BEmqpSAKekT8WPcmHJvizhV-tm9p7bqhXgAqjKOs-k8JjRmKejsKc6CssqpNFonK24WpeXsLDsCFP0sluy2ERAliTcqanDylWw00erc/s1600/Spider+star.jpg" height="320" width="287" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">String Pieced Spider Web block</td></tr>
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Several people asked what a string quilt was. String quilting is a very old method where strings or strips and other small pieces are added to a foundation fabric to make quilt blocks.<br />
Here is a<a href="http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/10/string-quilt-block-tutorial/" target="_blank"> tutorial on Craftsy </a>to get you started. Here is a <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/04/string-quilts/?_ct=rbew&_ctp=45069" target="_blank">blog post</a> about using this method of piecing to put your scraps to use. Here is a <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/string-heart-block-tutorial/48104?_ct=rbew&_ctp=14981" target="_blank">free pattern.</a> for inspiration.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7-F0EmVLat9y93mIBeOXPY6AJUr0cm654HxQo4XZK9uEHhKCJzopfiEsTSyIVE8FnHbtnNKk7xYilHAmjagABN5DiC_h60-KjMB_5Mp6tZkNED_JY_VvXZocF3Tc4k0gHyvd7TGKW2c/s1600/string+quilts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7-F0EmVLat9y93mIBeOXPY6AJUr0cm654HxQo4XZK9uEHhKCJzopfiEsTSyIVE8FnHbtnNKk7xYilHAmjagABN5DiC_h60-KjMB_5Mp6tZkNED_JY_VvXZocF3Tc4k0gHyvd7TGKW2c/s1600/string+quilts.jpg" height="320" width="248" /></a></div>
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I learned this technique from <a href="http://www.gwenmarston.com/" target="_blank">Gwen Marston'</a>s <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Liberated-String-Quilts-Gwen-Marston/dp/1571202072/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_1968491462?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&pf_rd_p=1968491462&pf_rd_s=smile-campaign&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1571202072&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1AFK4DBEQZ2J42QQE351" target="_blank">Liberated String Quilts. </a><br />
Gwen's methods appeal to my no rules, no mistakes sensibilities.<br />
If you'd like to see more string quilts, this <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/quiltmakermag/string-quilting-101/" target="_blank">Pinterest Board </a>has some lovely examples.<br />
Our sewing grandmothers didn't waste a single scrap of fabric. Unlike now when we can easily buy whatever fabric we want, it wasn't that long ago when fabric was relatively expensive and hard to get. Our sewing foremothers were very clever at using every bit of what they had to make even utility quilts works of art. Making something pretty out of waste is a very green attitude. We don't give our foremothers enough credit for how they made useful things beautiful, just for the pleasure of it.(One more example of how "women's work" is demeaned throughout history).<br />
I like making a string quilt using the same methods as our sewing great-grandmothers. They didn't have rotary cutters! No long clear rulers! No computers and printers to print any pattern they might like. No access to millions of fabrics, threads and inspirational pictures. I sometimes wonder what they would think of my pretty room full of fabric and patterns and tools. A whole room dedicated to sewing! I'm sure they would be amazed at how easy we have it now. I try to appreciate what I have, in their memory.<br />
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<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-16157328764101019612015-01-16T11:20:00.001-05:002015-01-16T11:36:07.323-05:00No Mistakes or, Nobody is Perfect<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfB6lz_6Ryu1au6ByJ5N7upJbCc_KIhXEfGAcGNZIbY1vmoE5FBfYXkvdzXnuy-0s580zhdSGa-FXiVElt5c0bW0m91ozuicHYzUZtKgPWd0dD4kiOYrMpGPBUbn5wExAP8gJkshbOH04/s1600/Scrap+quilt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfB6lz_6Ryu1au6ByJ5N7upJbCc_KIhXEfGAcGNZIbY1vmoE5FBfYXkvdzXnuy-0s580zhdSGa-FXiVElt5c0bW0m91ozuicHYzUZtKgPWd0dD4kiOYrMpGPBUbn5wExAP8gJkshbOH04/s1600/Scrap+quilt.jpg" height="320" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">String panels waiting for final press before assembly</td></tr>
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One thing I've learned the hard way is that there are really no mistakes in doing art, only "design opportunities". Many people are reluctant to learn new things because they are worried that they won't be good at them. They see pictures of perfect cakes, cookies, quilts, decorated homes...and feel like they can never measure up. What we don't see, of course, is all of the work, the screw-ups, the side tracks and "mistakes" behind the scenes. We all like to put our best face forward, after all. In a way we do our fellow artists a disservice by trying to be so perfect all of the time.<br />
I try to make a scrap quilt every year, since I seem to have an infinite amount of self-replicating scraps. I make a few baby quilts and gift quilts every year, and if we multiply that by how long I've been sewing times my incapability of throwing out a piece of fabric larger than a postage stamp, you can understand why there are a few scraps lurking around. The strips above are all leftover from various baby quilts, wall hangings, pajamas, Hawaiian shirts and other projects from the past few years.<br />
I thought it would be fun this time to make a string quilt, since I had lots of leftover strips. I never use a formal pattern because I like to make up my own, so I always end up with a few leftover strips.<br />
I decided to pretend that I had no rotary cutter and no ruler when I made the strings -so in the interest of Art I decided to try being<i> Imperfect. </i>Being imperfect meant that I would cut with scissors. The strings didn't have to be straight.<br />
Sometimes our desire to be perfect holds us back, artistically. At least, it does for me. I try to make everything "perfect" and of course it can never live up to the image in my head.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCeJYrgi9FF51ejK-JHNqZmO1tTBLU6nX6Gkow5FNC1HNauVk6ZujSKC8HlbU_TgLIwEAnSA6LG-_b4arrHgiMaTnQLX8ihVBHp0GPHgTCxPYR47QJEuDgqrObbfAbEscTziVh2GvELk/s1600/stockings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCeJYrgi9FF51ejK-JHNqZmO1tTBLU6nX6Gkow5FNC1HNauVk6ZujSKC8HlbU_TgLIwEAnSA6LG-_b4arrHgiMaTnQLX8ihVBHp0GPHgTCxPYR47QJEuDgqrObbfAbEscTziVh2GvELk/s1600/stockings.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just messing around in the studio sometimes leads me to better art than what I had planned</td></tr>
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Once we visited the Chimayo weavers in New Mexico. The tour guide told us that the custom there was to put a mistake in every weaving on purpose, "because humans are imperfect, and only God is perfect." I wondered, what if I started to put a mistake in everything on purpose?<br />
Would that not be freeing? Would it help me to do better work, because I would accept that mistakes were human, so it is futile to attempt perfection? The goal should only be to do my best work, over and over again.<br />
My mom used to nag me when I would fuss endlessly when working on a project, saying there were times to be meticulous, and other times to get 'er done "quick and dirty". Everything is a rough draft, she'd say. Some rougher than others, but an excellent philosophy. If we then accept that everything we do is just an attempt, a "rough draft", then what happens in fact is that we become better artists, writers, cooks, etc, because we are making more of our art and getting better all the time. We make fewer mistakes if we stop trying to never make mistakes. That's very Zen, don't you think? (This has also been shown in many experiments. See <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy?language=en" target="_blank">Stumbling on Happiness</a>.)<br />
My strips are string pieced on a fabric foundation six inches wide by 45 inches long. I have five done. My only rule was not to repeat a fabric in each column. which made for very lively combinations. I didn't try to make them straight. Some were slanted to start with. That's ok. Now I need to decide, do I want more columns? Do I want borders? It is more fun to decide as I go along. I will use a ruler to square my string columns, and to cut my borders, if I have them, because I'm not capable of cutting a straight line that long. The pieces all have to fit together, after all. My goal is to be finished by the end of the month.<br />
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be done by January 31.<br />
<br />
Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-64777456935859295602015-01-08T16:04:00.001-05:002015-01-08T16:04:35.496-05:00Scary Patterns: Cosplay Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dhkhY3UjeGhyE-qvRU1zQbwFuaef47ehsEremdgkMrH7LoIUDfopheqMM9vcW2WwWyYtqhEXTKAYIWV0zApByKmj20Mr_Pp2GhsIfI7rIa-TXDVSI9BE5lavhnu_1uAoy6UUYvSL6Hk/s1600/S3629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dhkhY3UjeGhyE-qvRU1zQbwFuaef47ehsEremdgkMrH7LoIUDfopheqMM9vcW2WwWyYtqhEXTKAYIWV0zApByKmj20Mr_Pp2GhsIfI7rIa-TXDVSI9BE5lavhnu_1uAoy6UUYvSL6Hk/s1600/S3629.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div>
While adding new patterns to the <a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/whatsnew.aspx" target="_blank">What's New </a>section, I found this one in the latest batch.<br />
I see a <a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/simplicity3629saucycostumes.aspx" target="_blank">Saucy Musketeer</a>, a Naughty Admiral, Racy Zorro, and I'm not sure what those last two are.<br />
Robin Hood? A Gambler?<br />
This is a little racier than the usual Simplicity. Not that there's anything wrong with that.Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-62742646939194516102015-01-07T11:33:00.000-05:002015-01-07T11:49:32.976-05:00My Twelve Tasks, or 15 Minutes a Day<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0FLHym_zTrcustjs8Ys74mF-231W8qr1_MlV30sAVfiKCV2IZQnY4YgbMoykG_XkXW-4-0Z9cYSTl4oF1w8eL-0hT_JoE0PJn-1EqGU7IEu5oPt0LKgQBUBUgO-xBELf3OuIbH9Rzpg/s1600/V1415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0FLHym_zTrcustjs8Ys74mF-231W8qr1_MlV30sAVfiKCV2IZQnY4YgbMoykG_XkXW-4-0Z9cYSTl4oF1w8eL-0hT_JoE0PJn-1EqGU7IEu5oPt0LKgQBUBUgO-xBELf3OuIbH9Rzpg/s1600/V1415.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vogue 1415</td></tr>
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It's always inspiring to see what other people want to make. I always get ideas and change my wish list accordingly. so I thought I would share my list. This will also remind me what I wanted to do.<br />
I can't be the only person who finally gets an hour of unscheduled time and can't remember what it was that they wanted to do. Lists are helpful that way.<br />
I had very good results when I made a <a href="http://littlehuntingcreek.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-paradox-of-choice.html" target="_blank">12 part list of monthly goals.</a> I didn't do it last year and didn't get much done.<br />
<br />
Twelve Ideas, to be chosen at random every month:<br />
<br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.04091366264037788" style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sew a scrap quilt -<i> in progress</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make something out of silk</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use a border print</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sew a Hawaiian shirt (Mr. Hunting Creek is very happy about this!)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make pajamas</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Make </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>T shirts</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a Wall hanging or other Art</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Make some potholders and pillow covers</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finish something (plenty of unfinished projects to choose from)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use a Vintage pattern</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use a new pattern</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a Holiday decoration</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Patterns I want to make:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v1415-products-48736.php?page_id=294" target="_blank">Vogue 1415 </a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEV3tPTfDPdGKPujr3Vs-jojSbgX658CZV3d_4_km1t0VoBDiNZeNVaUAUiSZMVPiizWu1gk9coaFUjwiJVw7Ehxzd3fIqlUSQShr0g8ycy3TJPhnxiRG9IlRJEtgMb32wIl1Fvt7w1CI/s1600/V1415+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEV3tPTfDPdGKPujr3Vs-jojSbgX658CZV3d_4_km1t0VoBDiNZeNVaUAUiSZMVPiizWu1gk9coaFUjwiJVw7Ehxzd3fIqlUSQShr0g8ycy3TJPhnxiRG9IlRJEtgMb32wIl1Fvt7w1CI/s1600/V1415+(1).jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the prettiest blouse and I have added it to my list to remind me to make it. Both views appeal.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd like to make a leopard print tee shirt. I haven't picked a pattern yet.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd like to make some <a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v8909-products-46650.php?page_id=264" target="_blank">silk drawstring pants.</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's a manageable enough list, I think.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've already got 1/5 of my scrap quilt done. Yet the tub of scraps looks the same! Scraps defy the laws of physics. No matter how many I use, there are always more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a222a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm allocating <b>15 minutes a day</b> to just hang out in the studio and do just one thing. Surely I can do that.</span><br />
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Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-62482750588494325002014-12-31T10:45:00.000-05:002014-12-31T11:59:04.579-05:002014 Round Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIOBbK3SegRRPRNzK_6yv68ra0ITP_1L7AWECT0j830pIMuPu3VZmsP9amVUSCwMTub6g1Xrj95_8ur8lo86HZTs4cUsCQQwbwT4RmIhU4jpFNJ3JQGb175NttGUiaw9IwRNzzFN2ESY/s1600/Christmas+tree+stocking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIOBbK3SegRRPRNzK_6yv68ra0ITP_1L7AWECT0j830pIMuPu3VZmsP9amVUSCwMTub6g1Xrj95_8ur8lo86HZTs4cUsCQQwbwT4RmIhU4jpFNJ3JQGb175NttGUiaw9IwRNzzFN2ESY/s1600/Christmas+tree+stocking.jpg" height="320" width="155" /></a></div>
What did I make in 2014? I designed these needle felted stockings for new babies<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11VZLdZC5IMY4wpu1FN8n_jSrHHkdR3lZQZNFlQF4dO4pDrJ0X6GtCeZJlA1sWiL1CdD6POtLbi4qvtVhgiXUB5tmwXBOeOGMzHaRu67dX8K5GCBKqaNnHMAaievrog5Z8JSOmWV0MnI/s1600/snowman+stocking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11VZLdZC5IMY4wpu1FN8n_jSrHHkdR3lZQZNFlQF4dO4pDrJ0X6GtCeZJlA1sWiL1CdD6POtLbi4qvtVhgiXUB5tmwXBOeOGMzHaRu67dX8K5GCBKqaNnHMAaievrog5Z8JSOmWV0MnI/s1600/snowman+stocking.jpg" height="320" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowmen/Gingerbread people</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiPtNLV-grc6-wbIQ1h36nv4VyeEx1lXhcTeGNgq1GKMiO6DmTmbHLXKPqkZP03tSL2GkKLJUblPD4x89IXp9FwYXMu4sf0Yw4pbheBu4HjOHfnQHw5RCLEn9B9TtLPgJWd7W8ad0l9M/s1600/poinsettia+red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiPtNLV-grc6-wbIQ1h36nv4VyeEx1lXhcTeGNgq1GKMiO6DmTmbHLXKPqkZP03tSL2GkKLJUblPD4x89IXp9FwYXMu4sf0Yw4pbheBu4HjOHfnQHw5RCLEn9B9TtLPgJWd7W8ad0l9M/s1600/poinsettia+red.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this my favorite? Red Poinsettia on white wool felt</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX01xOGHyjfWgFoMIpbUitQvuD0s87AezH1nhWnuYTTJDZG_Q8QIYaNitIl_Ew20Vrkhq0oz9ttp-hVNr1Re7l3khS7I8HxVKdgW5Sd_w3Ox-3AR-nbT0BGfSLO4JUWNi9uZh9CRUF2XQ/s1600/4+red+birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX01xOGHyjfWgFoMIpbUitQvuD0s87AezH1nhWnuYTTJDZG_Q8QIYaNitIl_Ew20Vrkhq0oz9ttp-hVNr1Re7l3khS7I8HxVKdgW5Sd_w3Ox-3AR-nbT0BGfSLO4JUWNi9uZh9CRUF2XQ/s1600/4+red+birds.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four Calling Birds, Cardinal variety</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bJEJ2Au1a2gCa7vACBg0XS-wsoEtNrzuNx-5ejnU3b7WhkoJtrQlUeqMdFKuAmlFf7sgAtmq1KpNFFZnFnyCLRsP2LtlhLK1T8uTaShOInmftoeWofv_FGywnW6bkf8Kp4XvsxpggGg/s1600/4+birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bJEJ2Au1a2gCa7vACBg0XS-wsoEtNrzuNx-5ejnU3b7WhkoJtrQlUeqMdFKuAmlFf7sgAtmq1KpNFFZnFnyCLRsP2LtlhLK1T8uTaShOInmftoeWofv_FGywnW6bkf8Kp4XvsxpggGg/s1600/4+birds.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four Calling Birds on Blue</td></tr>
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Handmade Vanillas Brandy, Rum, Bourbon and Vodka (recipe for these is in my <a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/12/05/toll-house-cookies-secret-history/" target="_blank">Toll House Cookie essay.)</a><br />
<br />
In the fall of 2013, I took a online class offered by <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/modernpoetry" target="_blank">Penn on Modern Poetry</a>, recommended by <a href="http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Bad Mom, Good Mom</a>. I enjoyed the class, but best of all, it inspired me to start writing again. I was so inspired that I wrote <a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/01/24/thirteen-ways-looking-bad-news/" target="_blank">"Thirteen Ways of Looking at Bad News"</a> . On a whim, I submitted it to<a href="http://the-toast.net/" target="_blank"> The-Toast.</a><br />
No one was more surprised than I when they replied that they would be delighted to publish this in January of 2014.<br />
<br />
Inspired by the incredible sexism of the<a href="http://littlehuntingcreek.blogspot.com/2013/11/finkbeiner-test-for-everything.html" target="_blank"> NY Times obituary of Yvonne Brill</a>, I wrote the blog post about their incredible wrongheadedness. But our friends at the NY Times continued to be sexist trolls, which spawned a Twitter hashtag:<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NYTwomensobits&src=hash" target="_blank"> <strong class="search-query">#NYTwomensobits</strong></a><br />
I read these and thought <i>NO, they are doing them wrong.</i> They should write them as if we were in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaid%27s_Tale" target="_blank">The Handmaid's Tale</a>, but as if women were in power. So I wrote a few, submitted them for fun and got this reply back: Write MORE. So I wrote some <span id="goog_1875339758"></span><a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/01/09/misandrist-obituaries/" target="_blank">Misandrist Obituaries,</a> published last January.<br />
<br />
In the spring, I took an online class at Duke in Behavioral Economics: <a href="https://accounts.coursera.org/signin?course_id=972152&r=https%3A%2F%2Fclass.coursera.org%2Fbehavioralecon-002&user_action=class&topic_name=A%20Beginner%27s%20Guide%20to%20Irrational%20Behavior" target="_blank">A Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior.</a> I liked this so much, I wrote, <a href="https://medium.com/the-archipelago/how-to-avoid-a-bank-robbery-be9b3bb994c4" target="_blank">How to Avoid a Bank Robbery, </a>which was published on Medium.<br />
<br />
Inspired by the amazing sexism that accomplished women face, and the unacceptable attitudes in the media<a href="http://littlehuntingcreek.blogspot.com/2013/11/wanted-federal-reserve-barbie.html" target="_blank"> regarding their clothing choices</a>, I wrote <a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/08/07/wearing-pants-brief-history/" target="_blank">Wearing the Pants</a>, A Brief History of Women wearing Pants in the West, published last summer.<br />
<br />
I read a study about cats, and how they hear you calling, but choose to ignore you and wrote:<br />
<a href="http://airshipdaily.com/blog/09252014-t-s-eliot-naming-cats" target="_blank">T.S. Eliot and the Science of Naming Cats.</a> There is a lot of interesting research out there about cats. Basically, scientists have discovered that they are all acolytes of Ayn Rand, and Slytherins.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1py7NVoa5cDDwkhfgIEodAs1PPtjqkn4_YmSYWl5pCwncFu47YJVo3yF7ljlodmXP82IarcfAO0m7g6HBM2ea4vfVpLgH4Go3L7dMXrrZQTGqFq1Uz2m3gYQhRfFIPwSxcQYv5jsSZs/s1600/Animal-Cat-Korean-painting-autumn-cat-with-chrysanthemum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1py7NVoa5cDDwkhfgIEodAs1PPtjqkn4_YmSYWl5pCwncFu47YJVo3yF7ljlodmXP82IarcfAO0m7g6HBM2ea4vfVpLgH4Go3L7dMXrrZQTGqFq1Uz2m3gYQhRfFIPwSxcQYv5jsSZs/s1600/Animal-Cat-Korean-painting-autumn-cat-with-chrysanthemum.jpg" height="320" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He hears you calling him, but chooses to ignore you. Cats are not dogs, people.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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While reading a cookbook, I noticed in the headnotes of a chocolate chip cookie recipe a glaring historical error. Cookbooks full of inaccuracies like this (Food writers are very seldom trained in historical research techniques), but this one was particularly egregious. They claimed that the Toll House Cookie recipe was based on a Colonial recipe called a "Butter drop-do". Curious about the weird name, I did some research and discovered that everything we thought we knew about the origin of Toll House cookies was based on a<a href="http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2014/07/things-you-didnt-know-about-chocolate-chip-cookies.html" target="_blank"> web of lies.</a><a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/12/05/toll-house-cookies-secret-history/" target="_blank"> My Secret History of Toll House Cookies </a>was published on Dec 5th.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipAfefBXPDe_YieiSILG2ZI_RMhtHQw4knd8Igmv6SUoNXAtD2nOWrEVXG28_3Y8N64Fj3U9u4Lf6Uwl832OWlZulNspwk-dizV2X6CWjnJR6iog1H0lp7J8tSoun0A5fJRRJJUh779Q/s1600/One+weakness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipAfefBXPDe_YieiSILG2ZI_RMhtHQw4knd8Igmv6SUoNXAtD2nOWrEVXG28_3Y8N64Fj3U9u4Lf6Uwl832OWlZulNspwk-dizV2X6CWjnJR6iog1H0lp7J8tSoun0A5fJRRJJUh779Q/s1600/One+weakness.jpg" /></a></div>
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They still keep publishing <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2014/07/things-you-didnt-know-about-chocolate-chip-cookies.html" target="_blank">the wrong stories</a>. It's amazing how difficult it is to<a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/12/05/toll-house-cookies-secret-history/" target="_blank"> correct a deliberate falsehood.</a> Read my essay and tell Epicurious to get their act together. Do it for Ruth Graves Wakefield.<br />
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That's a brief list of what I did in 2014. I wish for all of my Dear Readers a Happy New Year.<br />
<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-47766175761283277142014-12-05T12:13:00.000-05:002014-12-05T12:13:27.335-05:00The Secret History of Toll House Cookies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMt3jScYiJrYZ6eJ1Mi5JRmFwpO-usPNL5hrMPYy-9G2_r8rYA-3ciD8McZsViecPXpmEpvcvkMqolaBh3NDtOkF-mGAlI0OVPTedRTCAY4ShIm3HAGnAKATP6kHO3VVdKqf1OwIyVgbU/s1600/tollhouseposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMt3jScYiJrYZ6eJ1Mi5JRmFwpO-usPNL5hrMPYy-9G2_r8rYA-3ciD8McZsViecPXpmEpvcvkMqolaBh3NDtOkF-mGAlI0OVPTedRTCAY4ShIm3HAGnAKATP6kHO3VVdKqf1OwIyVgbU/s1600/tollhouseposter.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></div>
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Read my Secret History of Toll House Cookies,<a href="http://the-toast.net/2014/12/05/toll-house-cookies-secret-history/view-all/" target="_blank"> published today on the Toast</a>Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-2137457625745941252014-12-01T12:08:00.001-05:002014-12-01T12:10:09.654-05:00Needle Felted Christmas Stockings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJi91M7srU38wOG-rUjIYmpO62i3Hb1bPFkBMZsza3gWSCE4o_HiLn_bj_hvD8I93Y7IBCf4pADMb5x2DUpfX79jk9F0ydLh7l6PtlNeKjE9N5nCR6EP6vJm6TQXqPufswbk9xzslEnM/s1600/photo+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJi91M7srU38wOG-rUjIYmpO62i3Hb1bPFkBMZsza3gWSCE4o_HiLn_bj_hvD8I93Y7IBCf4pADMb5x2DUpfX79jk9F0ydLh7l6PtlNeKjE9N5nCR6EP6vJm6TQXqPufswbk9xzslEnM/s1600/photo+(5).JPG" /></a></div>
This year I added some new designs to my stable of needle felted Christmas Stockings. I detailed the process of making them<a href="http://littlehuntingcreek.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-favorite-thing.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxk92LxOvwG6MgEFKcpUQdUw9SUm8vWKU1mytvtnDd9y9rwV0JcW_8F9L6oc-kWTF4jW9SZK5WxwVkRXKaIkN17k_-K2i0hSV8cxKO_iq-zmIKiywHo5-lz6wyNJu8HihCTq3uarOf5E/s1600/baby+A+stocking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxk92LxOvwG6MgEFKcpUQdUw9SUm8vWKU1mytvtnDd9y9rwV0JcW_8F9L6oc-kWTF4jW9SZK5WxwVkRXKaIkN17k_-K2i0hSV8cxKO_iq-zmIKiywHo5-lz6wyNJu8HihCTq3uarOf5E/s1600/baby+A+stocking.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a></div>
The stocking above is a gift for a new baby.<br />
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Needle felting can be done on many fabrics. These stockings are made of <a href="http://www.thelittlehuntingcreekcompany.com/woolfeltholidaycolorssetbynationalnonwovens.aspx" target="_blank">wool felt</a>, which doesn't ravel and is very easy to work with.<br />
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The Poinsettia Design is my own - I free cut the petals and leaves to get a primitive look.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8O_9U0zm5YvmSAzselwgjogCu5nSJF1xqPTDcMKD5TU87FLpXUWb8YV3ify8WpGLkbPyH5u4Nfti9nHkSjBhyqrhK4Y-CCQJ6umzPoZ6wHLM0E4I7_149ocpT1p_WySdfVXaL-2t70k0/s1600/in+progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8O_9U0zm5YvmSAzselwgjogCu5nSJF1xqPTDcMKD5TU87FLpXUWb8YV3ify8WpGLkbPyH5u4Nfti9nHkSjBhyqrhK4Y-CCQJ6umzPoZ6wHLM0E4I7_149ocpT1p_WySdfVXaL-2t70k0/s1600/in+progress.jpg" /></a></div>
I lay them on the felt until the design pleases me, and then felt it down with my machine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPP9yBsvarYo8mOnUL-WLoGe5QafHphsSoHrLWWYSnZlLmCs9bk87ha32np6Jq1luRGewWgd1n_wgNwcaN-zutAn9L1QV1SacrrUSn_LEXREk0E6IMivCKx5kpvxmYtyMP4RCsPy6dto/s1600/red+and+green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPP9yBsvarYo8mOnUL-WLoGe5QafHphsSoHrLWWYSnZlLmCs9bk87ha32np6Jq1luRGewWgd1n_wgNwcaN-zutAn9L1QV1SacrrUSn_LEXREk0E6IMivCKx5kpvxmYtyMP4RCsPy6dto/s1600/red+and+green.jpg" /></a></div>
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After that I sew them together. I have a bunch more to show you later this week.<br />
I always get new ideas to try whenever I make them.<br />
<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-26597776602326153362014-11-11T08:56:00.000-05:002014-11-11T08:56:16.202-05:00A Ghost from Ardennes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAM07Rn3bYXAtI-tA1jUTk2ROQ-Gxj8eb5ZcGQyxUwTRh6VTI5iXRCkTEaDK-24oWG2lI2ro97F3NkXR6Hi8kko2Z-58i97eBd3GyzIHpBSBZcLEWRfhSUNCB0nelazeMjIA7lSW61bs/s1600/Edmond+and+crew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAM07Rn3bYXAtI-tA1jUTk2ROQ-Gxj8eb5ZcGQyxUwTRh6VTI5iXRCkTEaDK-24oWG2lI2ro97F3NkXR6Hi8kko2Z-58i97eBd3GyzIHpBSBZcLEWRfhSUNCB0nelazeMjIA7lSW61bs/s320/Edmond+and+crew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BJkRPpF3RQpHiYPyqRUoCf0ztO5BiSYQRjXSP1wH8LoqLpSWirViJh-OMkAA4s9PCtXwpEM4vkUvF9JCYe8jZ2uzp22UCoEZx9Kfef3n8e6XdQBiscxgoXeqeCluRVfHusPP6FQW12o/s1600/Edmond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BJkRPpF3RQpHiYPyqRUoCf0ztO5BiSYQRjXSP1wH8LoqLpSWirViJh-OMkAA4s9PCtXwpEM4vkUvF9JCYe8jZ2uzp22UCoEZx9Kfef3n8e6XdQBiscxgoXeqeCluRVfHusPP6FQW12o/s320/Edmond.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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Found in an old cigar box, pictures of my Uncle Edmond. He was a tail gunner in the <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 23.3999996185303px;">510th Bomber Squadron, 351st Bomber Group. He is buried in Ardennes Cemetery.</span></span></span></div>
<br />Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-34000928675356878952014-11-04T10:23:00.000-05:002014-11-04T10:23:56.973-05:00Feels Like the First time...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwICFjUBEP1iofAE5OMaKSjH-7o5da8al-g6utVYRzQfjoZPK0lhZEPA9Qr0tPnyZsuUi1UDedfT3zE_u0uJHnZKcPDWPkteOOZDg5xUOtAiaP99wGKH9DAd3mdK1JIAo1pFml0wI6gi4/s1600/Kathi+freshman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwICFjUBEP1iofAE5OMaKSjH-7o5da8al-g6utVYRzQfjoZPK0lhZEPA9Qr0tPnyZsuUi1UDedfT3zE_u0uJHnZKcPDWPkteOOZDg5xUOtAiaP99wGKH9DAd3mdK1JIAo1pFml0wI6gi4/s1600/Kathi+freshman.jpg" height="320" width="319" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e;">J found this picture of me,
from the very first time I voted. My mom made me pose for a picture. "MOM! This
is stupid!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0f243e;">This is at my old elementary
school, in my kindergarten classroom. I am a freshman in college at this time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0f243e;">Of further interest, I made the top I am wearing. It was a knit top. Pale green, with darker green little leaves. Not seen: the green denim jeans I made to go with it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e;">Don't forget to vote!</span></div>
Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7716616407420487026.post-69379187844414070032014-10-30T15:33:00.000-04:002014-10-30T15:33:14.803-04:00Tutorial: Furoshiki Techniques<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tG_y_yVZ91dIcrR2YKTJLwbzhtWDg2k1UFINY6nFOvr9L-qfpMe7kTXKe45Ar3g9Y80JC4TPiS1BYEQOtMC8xbwOn4clJXDdlFrSjIlJQiPcb1l-6nFkExoPCR7V-n9ZeVLw3p6U358/s1600/6a00e5523f5f4d883401bb07a15ede970d-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tG_y_yVZ91dIcrR2YKTJLwbzhtWDg2k1UFINY6nFOvr9L-qfpMe7kTXKe45Ar3g9Y80JC4TPiS1BYEQOtMC8xbwOn4clJXDdlFrSjIlJQiPcb1l-6nFkExoPCR7V-n9ZeVLw3p6U358/s1600/6a00e5523f5f4d883401bb07a15ede970d-800wi.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
One of my fondest memories of Japan was watching our Saleswoman wrap our packages when we bought gifts to take home.<br />
She was so talented! She didn't even need tape! It was like taking a master class in origami.<br />
The nice people at Spoonflower have a lesson in <a href="http://blog.spoonflower.com/2014/10/furoshiki.html#more" target="_blank">wrapping with cloth here</a>, just in time for the holiday season.<br />
Wrapping a bottle of wine or fancy olive oil with this technique would make your gift even more special. There are so many cute quilting fabrics with unique designs, so you could truly customize even the wrapping to the recipient. I can hardly wait to try it.Little Hunting Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15581836733935812927noreply@blogger.com1