My HOA can Bite Me!

The 'president' of my HOA just rang my doorbell ... to inform me that any 'modifications' I make to the exterior of my home ... including landscaping ... 'do not belong to you'. WTF? This aged bitch who sounds like she's had a pack-a-day habit for 50-years wants to come 'inform' me that I can't landscape my fucking yard? She can take my stones and shove them up her ass. Better yet. I think I'll help her.

Nosy busybodies need to avoid my doorstep. Because I'm more likely to get in a fistfight than discuss something. I have to get 'approval' to plant a fucking flower? I have to 'take a picture' and submit my work for some dumbass bitch and her cronies to 'approve' something I put my sweat into? Yeah. Fuck you, bitch.

This has completely ruined what was otherwise a lovely day. We went to a farmer's market in the next town, visited with one of the ladies we met in the Rock Hill Knitaholics group Wednesday, had a wonderful little lunch, and I -was- excited about putting in some new plants. Not anymore. Fucking bitch had to come over and ruin my day. Now I'm all pissed off. And have no way to vent it.

WIP - Gluttony Socks and FO - Pink Goes Good With Green Dishcloth

I was inspired, by my trip to see Wicked last Friday in Charlotte, to create something in Wicked colors. I didn't have green and Black, but I did have green and pink.


And thus was born the Pink Goes Good With Green dishcloth. I used the Ballband Dishcloth pattern from the Mason-Dixon girls, and I think it looks pretty good. a little Easter-y, a little cherry tree blossoms in spring, a little pink dogwood-y. But I like it. And I knitted it while at the show .. though not during. That would be silliness.



I also finished a sock. Not a pair. I haven't yet cast on the second one, though I'd best get to it if I intend to finish before the next Sin arrives.


If I were to re-knit it, I'd move the arch shaping a bit, and maaaybe make the foot a little longer, but we'll see how they wear.

Once I'm finished.

The House That Yarn Built

Before I go on to gush and gush and gush about how phenomenal the Wicked performace last Friday was, and about the sock that I finished, and the new dishcloth I finished and the new one I'm making, I need to take a moment to post about an organization I feel strongly about.

About the Make It Right Project

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The slow reaction to the initial emergency and to the ongoing crisis exposed troubling realities about the response capabilities of the American government when the citizens of our most culturally diverse city were in desperate need of help.

When Brad Pitt visited the Lower 9th Ward for the first time after the storm, he was shocked by what he saw: the remnants of people's lives strewn across the streets and an entire neighborhood torn apart and turned upside down. Pitt was even more disturbed by the lack of a clear plan to address the situation. Many were quietly saying there was no chance the Lower 9th Ward would ever be re-built.

In a series of community meetings, residents of the Lower 9th Ward told Pitt about the challenges their community faced, both before and after the storm. The rising cost of energy placed a strain on the low-income households of the neighborhood and residents expressed concern about worsening environmental conditions. Their concerns have been validated by many scientists, who have concluded that climate change is increasing the frequency and strength of hurricanes, resulting in the erosion of wetlands and barrier islands that once protected the coast. The residents of the Lower 9th Ward told Pitt that while their terrible crisis had exposed their vulnerability, Katrina had also created an opportunity: to build something better than what had existed before.

Inspired by the courage and hope of the residents he met, Pitt resolved to do whatever he could to help them rebuild. Just as importantly, he wanted to help recreate and nurture the unique culture and spirit of the Lower 9th Ward, which symbolizes the soul of New Orleans. He understood instinctively that a New Orleans rebuilt without the Lower 9th Ward would never be whole.

He began by working with Global Green to sponsor an architecture competition aimed at generating ideas about how to rebuild sustainably. Pitt worked with local community leaders as well as experts from around the world to develop viable ideas for the Lower 9th Ward. That successful project inspired Pitt's new focus: Make It Right.

The Mission of Make It Right is clear: It is to be a catalyst for redevelopment of the Lower 9th Ward, by building a neighborhood comprised of safe and healthy homes that are inspired by Cradle to Cradle thinking, with an emphasis on a high quality of design, while preserving the spirit of the community's culture. The goal is to accomplish this quickly, so that the first residents can begin returning to their homes as soon as possible.

I learned about this project from Allison at SimplySockYarn, and I've donated $20 for this month, and plan to try to make a monthly donation to this very worthy cause. I have had a chance to visit New Orleans twice, both before the disater, and have not had opportunity to go back. I do however have a friend that lives there that had to evacuate, and so I know from her stories what it was like to have to clean up afterwards .. and her house wasn't destroyed.

Thus has been born The House That Yarn Built. I think it's an incredibly amazing idea, and I've already donated $20, and hope to be able to donate more. I might make it a monthly thing .. I'll not purchase some yarn, or something I want, and instead put that money towards The House That Yarn Built. I encourage you to donate too. Let's give some home, and some homes, to people that sorely need them both.