Tilfeldigheter

The other day I was met by this sign when I got off the subway on my way to work:
Needless to say, I found it disturbingly hilarious on all sorts of levels. I had planed to write a long rant about evangelizing, but I think I'll just drop it, and let the poster speak for itself.

KE's good friend R had a phase of knitting that he's now come out of. When KE went to visit him yesterday he sent him home with bags of yarn! I was so thrilled--this almost never happens to me. I like getting random things that I would never have chosen myself--figuring out how to use them appropriately and aesthetically is always a really fun challenge. The poopy yarn that my Mom gave me last year ended up working up into one of my all time favorite sweaters, for example, so this is super fun and exciting! Here they are:

Even though this looks green it is really a nice dense brown with grayish undertones (color 7895, which, as I just discovered, is actually called "Dark Green." Go figure!). R started knitting something for his wife using three strands of it together, so the clump at the left will be hard to unravel! It's a total of 400 grams. This is actually totally something I would buy for myself, so I'm stoked. I'm thinking of maybe a pullover with a fair isle yoke in other colors like this Drops 108-10 pattern?

Then there's the stuff the I wouldn't pick out, but actually really like: it's a discontinued Garnstudio Drops yarn called Highlander. Unfortunately it has 10% nylon, which makes it a bit scratchy, but the colors are very fun, and since it's super bulky weight, the knitting up process will be quick, whatever I decide to do with it. R had two colors:

A salmon-y mix (number 14, 350 grams), which isn't really enough to make more than a vest. I am not a wearer of vests, since I have trouble with temperature regulation--I can feel cold and have sweaty armpits at the same time! The only Garnstudio vest pattern I could find that I came close to liking was this one, Drops 71-22. However, a perverse part of my personality finds this one (Drops 97-7) edged with fuzzy Puddel yarn strangely appealing.

The other color is a reddish-plum mix (number 15, 550 grams):

Love that color combination too. I had thought it was all one color at first, and had been hoping to make a sweater coat for my Mom (she loves those, and loves these colors), but alas there isn't enough. I think what I can make is this Drops 0-228 pullover.

I'm almost done with the body of the silky tweed sweater. I'm really liking the way it knits up (though the knitting in the back of stitches for the twisted rib is a hassle), and am much more enthusiastic about it than I was with the beige linen tunic. I think I may rip that out and use the yarn to make another tunic like the black one I knit this summer. I love the drape of that one and the floppy neck.

Å herregud

I try to be a nice person, but fundamentally I'm just pretty cranky. Case in point on Friday. I walked across campus for a meeting and my path was blocked by two young women distributing copies of the Book of John. I politely said no thank you and went to the meeting. When it was over I passed them again, and again they went out of their way to get in my way. I swerved around and when one of them asked me if I wanted a copy of the Book of John I said (shaking my head, and with a fairly aggressive tone of voice) : "Pack of lies. Pack of lies!" and kept walking. She shouted back (indignantly): "Ummm, I beg to differ! It's a pack of truth!"

Sigh. What a terrible attempt at communication on both parts. I know I had PMS. Maybe she did too? Either way, it doesn't bode well for peace, love, and understanding in the world. I've just reached a saturation point with proselytizing, and can't even bear to be confronted with it any more.

When I was at a conference last week I shared two 3-hour drives with a colleague who is a professor of religious studies and a life-long, and very dedicated Christian. We had the most wonderful and open conversations about belief and non-belief. I think we both are left with an uplifting feeling of having learned and shared on a pretty deep level. I was so happy to hear him say that he thinks doubt is the only defensible position as a Christian. I don't think I'm anti-belief per se, since it's one of my favorite things to discuss with people I respect and know, but I just can't abide complete strangers shoving it in my face.

While waiting in the airport on the way to that same conference a woman with a "We Need Alan Keyes" button sat down next to me and another guy. They guy looked at the "Boycott MacDonald's" form she was filling out and asked her about it. It turns out her "reason" (in the loosest sense of the word) was that MacDonald's is pro-gay and holds meetings to encourage its employees to become gay. Seriously. He asked her if she was voting for McCain and she said "No way! He's not pro-life" (last time I checked McCain is running on a firm pro-life platform, but who am I to correct this lady?).

She and the guy started exchanging comments about how horrible homosexuality is, and then out of the blue she turns to me (who is diligently knitting and trying to avoid eye contact with the nut jobs) and tells me I need to go see some movie that will "improve your marriage." When I say I don't think I'll do that she goes on the attack "Why not? Don't you want to improve your marriage? I went and it improved my marriage." Not a word about whatever religious message is in the film, because then it would be obvious that she's pushing her religion on strangers, but you have to know the film is religious. To satisfy your morbid curiosity I'm linking to a Christian website that has a description and trailer of the film, which is called Fireproof.

From there the woman went on a rant about how liberals are supposed to be so tolerant, but they're really more closed minded than everyone else. Well, yeah. She's right. I wasn't going to listen to her, so I moved to another seat. I am intolerant. I'm sick of the crap these people spew at complete strangers.

What I don't get is how these people, who know absolutely nothing about who I am, what I believe in, or what my life is like continue to think it's okay to just launch into me. And then if I choose not to drop everything and bow down to whatever cockamamie attitude or deity they're buying into, they get all huffy. What a totally weird way for people to spend their time...