Oatmeal at 10:45

Guess which of the following status updates was not written by a grad student?

Some wasabi with your Hallowe'en candy?

For Hallowe'en this year, I dressed up for the first time since I was young. My sister gave me the costume idea and I had much help from a friend with a sewing machine.

Starting with one T-shirt (size XL, ladies), bought cheap from the Army and Navy. Cut off the sleeves and sew it into a pillowcase.


Stuff pillowcase and paint on white lines:


Attach with elastic straps and wrap with a dark green "belt" while wearing a white sweater:


Sushi! (specifically, salmon nigiri)


The costume wasn't as obvious as I thought it would be. Though a handful of people at the party immediately knew what I was, other guesses ranged from pincushion to ladybug. I had to provide clues such as "smaller" and "edible".

Next year: wasabi purse and giant chopsticks. More Hallowe'en party pics here.

Hat #1 (sort of)

This is not the first hat that I've knit. Before knitting this hat, I had even graduated to balaclavas (which require, let me tell you, way more yarn).

But after a summer full of gift knitting, I was determined to knit a hat for myself.

Here it is:


3 AM Cable Hat knitted with one 50g skein of Rowan Classic Yarns Soft Tweed, colour Thistle, on 7.0mm needles (circulars and dpns).

The brim is a little short, yes. I finished the hat (knit bottom to top) and had a little ball left over. Decided that the best thing to do was to pick up stitches at the bottom and knit in the 2x2 rib until the yarn was all used up. Turns out the line where I picked up stitches works as a natural fold. I like the pattern a lot, but wish there was a way to knit the hat top down so that I could be more efficient about yarn usage and not worry about how long to make the brim. I am tempted, however, to buy more yarn (I've been thinking a lot about Bunny Paint colorway 071 that I've seen at a couple of stores) and knit another hat using this pattern. We'll see.

And if I could figure out how to line this hat, I could even wear it in freezingest Edmonton winter. Suggestions?

Don't do it, Mr. Gore

Now that Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize, the question everyone seems to be asking is, "Will he or won't he?" Run for President of the United States, that is.

For my money, the better question is "should he or shouldn't he?" And the answer is a definitive "no".

There are all sorts of reasons to do so, including the power, retribution for 2000 and... okay, mostly the power. But power at what cost?

1. Public image: Presidential campaigns can get notoriously unethical (Swift Boat, anyone?). Does Gore really want his Nobel sheen (TM me) to be sullied by the dirt that will inevitably be thrown his way? What if he starts levelling accusations at other candidates? Gore has effectively positioned himself as a man outside politics, and global warming as a non-partisan issue that the entire world should be concerned about. Why re-enter a divided public forum with a grade-school level of discourse?

2. Time: Campaigning for president (and then actually being president, should he win) would take potentially five years away from Gore's environmental focus. He has other (non-endangered) fish to fry, so to speak.

3. Cool Al: Like any presidential candidate would ever agree to go on live TV and do this:

I know it's German yarn, but still...

Another one for the "you knit what?!" pile.


And hey, the pattern is even on sale.

My First Turkey: A Photo Essay

Butterball turkey, in the packaging.


Old Fashioned bread stuffing.


The bird. Stuffed and in the pan.


Cooking.


Finished. Golden brown. 5.2 kg, 4 hours at 350 degrees F.


The carcass.


Cranberry sauce, clearly from a can.


Dinner. Sides provided by lovely guests. I forgot to take a photo of the desserts (there were three!)


Digging in. With gratitude.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Dove: Campaign for Real Profit?

A new Dove ad is making the viral rounds, the latest in its "Campaign for Real Beauty" that has included billboard ads featuring real, unPhotoshopped women as models and the award winning Dove: Evolution ad that shows an image re-touched beyond recognition in accelerated time. The latest salvo what Slate.com has called "cheap feminism" is the following:

Talk about it at Videocracy


I'll leave the Onion comments section to snark on the imprecise title ("Dove Onslaught"? Really?). Seth Stevenson at Slate.com has already ably deconstructed Dove's "on the side of real women" stance here and here, helpfully pointing out that the Unilever family of products ironically Dove alongside Slimfast and (harbinger of gender enlightenment in advertising) AXE.

My mixed feelings about the entire campaign are as follows:

1. Yes, there is a problem with the portrayal of female beauty in the media. But when the company behind a series of effective, award-winning ads drawing attention to that problem is out to sell you something, then their altruism is clearly undermined. Dove/Unilever has managed to simultaneously exploit women's insecurities about their bodies (that's firming cream being sold in the "Real Women Have Curves" ads) and tap into a populist, uncritical "you go, girl!" ethos that mistakes attitude for feminism. Should we really be falling all over ourselves congratulating a multinational corporation for suddenly seeing the harm that the advertising they commission is doing to society?

2. The campaign for real beauty still defines "beauty" as physical. Until Dove develops and markets a brain tonic, I suppose it will remain that way.

3. The in-house charity reeks of the kind of corporate exploitation I cannot stand. Charity is only really charity if you get nothing in return; mounds of good publicity is hardly nothing. One cyncially hopes that the self-esteem material will not have the "Dove" logo splashed on every page in an effort to inculcate brand loyalty. Too cynical? Perhaps. (Turns out I'm half correct: a PDF of the workbook for girls mentions Dove copiously on pg. 2, then again on the last two pages as sponsors. The sample School Program guide places a logo for the "Real Beauty School Program" at the top right corner of every odd-numbered page. It does make one wonder whether a school adminstrator or teacher would actually use non-sanctioned materials in class. Could they?)

And regarding the rather clichéd Onslaught ad specifically:

4. The blatant "oh, will someone think of the children!" fear-mongering that appeals to one base instinct (protect the young!) while reviling another (Me want pretty!)

5. While girls might develop self-esteem and body image issues from the bombardment of unrealistic images of the female body in the media, what about the little boys? What kind of unrealistic view of the opposite sex will they develop as they grow up? And what about men? If the Dove campaign wasn't so focused on selling its products to its target demographic (women), it could make a bold statement by pointing out that unrealistic beauty standards affect the other 50% of the population as well. But no. It's not about Y-chromosomes or even X-chromosomes. It's all about the almighty $.