Excessive Cuteness: Rabbit Shepherds Sheep

It's a rabbit, showing a border collie how to herd sheep. The blogpost is in Swedish, but you don't really need any more explanation: Gardsbacken: Champis, den vallande kaninen :)). Strangely enough, I found this link on an Alaskan quilting blog I follow: For My Rabbit Loving Friends | Crazy Shortcut Quilts. And to think I wasted all that time with LOLcats.

Poetry Feast For St. Bridgid--Weaving a New Eden

Since 2006, I've participated in a "silent poetry reading" for the Feast Day of St. Brigid (or in honor of some more pagan Brigid--at your preference). I'm not aware of any cross-blog activity this year, but it's a good day for a poem.

Here is Sherry Chandler reading Looking Over into the Promised Land from her 2011 book, Weaving a New Eden. I just love this book of poems. I've tried several times to write an explanation about why it's so wonderful, but I'm reduced to gushing fandom.

Weaving a New Eden is a women's history of Kentucky, moving from Rebecca Boone and the other frontierswomen through Sherry's ancestors ("The Grandmother Acrostics") to the present day and back again. These stories strike some chord in me that rings and resonates in a way that I can't describe. Few poets leave me wordless like this.

I've enjoyed reading Sherry's blog for as long as I've been reading blogs--she writes about poetry and poetics, cats and dogwood trees, and the many and varied books she reads. You can also sample a few of her poems online through her blog.

Google and Gingrich--They Don't Get Me At All

Some people who live on remote mountain ridges worry about the government tracking their movements and infringing their rights. I assume that's why Newt Gingrich called me on behalf of the NRA a few days ago, to warn me that "Obama's gonna take your guns." (His elocution was a little more sophisticated, but he was just echoing the same old theme I've been hearing since 2008.) Of course, I asked Newt why Obama hasn't gotten it done yet, but, being a robo-call, Newt didn't answer.

I'm more concerned about giant corporations than intrusive government. When I found this link to Google's ad targeting data based on my searches, I expected them to know things about me I feared to admit even to myself. I imagined an ominous combination of Santa Claus and Orwell's Big Brother. Instead, it seems, Big Brother doesn't get me at all. Here's how Google sees me:

Your categories:
Business & Industrial
Computers & Electronics - Software
Computers & Electronics - Software - Operating Systems - Linux & Unix
Shopping - Apparel
Localities - North America-USA-South(USA)-West Virginia

Your demographics:
We infer your age and gender based on the websites 
you've visited. You can remove or edit these at 
any time.
Age: 35-44
Gender: Male

I expected all those searches for antique crochet patterns and sewing supplies would have given a different demographic profile. But perhaps midlife male computer nerds are exploring their softer side with vintage-styled handmade lace. And, from an advertiser's viewpoint, Wal-Mart is the only place in our area where you can buy steel crochet hooks and computer hardware.

To see how Google identifies you as an advertising target, you can visit Google's Ads on the Web.

Sewing Without Shopping

I'm caught up with posting about 2011 fiber activities. These patchwork pieces are my current project--a double four-patch wool coverlet. So far, I have 72 eight-inch blocks, sewn together into two four-by-nine block chunks.

I'm holding back on sewing the two big chunks together until I'm ready to finish the thing, as it's easier to handle this way. After auditioning the coverlet on the bed, I've decided that it needs more blocks: two additional rows and two columns more should do it. That's why I'm making 34 more double four-patch blocks. I have several polar fleece remnants that I'm planning to sew together to back this patchwork project, so it will be totally made of scraps, leftovers, and old clothing. I believe it will empty at least two large storage tubs of fabric scraps. It's a tightwad bonanza--hours of sewing pleasure without shopping, and decluttering/reorganizing to boot.

I took these photos last week, and yes, I was also drying clothes on the clothes line. I did so again today--we haven't had to use the dryer yet this winter. Very strange.

CS 101: Classroom Droop Mountain

I was excited to read this last week: Udacity and the future of online universities by Felix Salmon. Speaking of Sebastian Thrun, Salmon writes:

... It started as a way of putting his Stanford course online--he was going to teach the whole thing, for free, to anybody in the world who wanted it. With quizzes and grades and a final certificate, in parallel with the in-person course he was giving his Stanford undergrad students. He sent out one email to announce the class, and from that one email there was ultimately an enrollment of 160,000 students....

Thrun was eloquent on the subject of how he realized that he had been running "weeder" classes, designed to be tough and make students fail and make himself, the professor, look good. Going forwards, he said, he wanted to learn from Khan Academy and build courses designed to make as many students as possible succeed--by revisiting classes and tests as many times as necessary until they really master the material.

.... he concluded that "I can't teach at Stanford again." He's given up his tenure at Stanford, and he's started a new online university called Udacity. He wants to enroll 500,000 students for his first course, on how to build a search engine--and of course it's all going to be free.

Here's the Website for the Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class that started it all, and here's the Udacity site, which is preparing to offer two more computer classes free on the Web. They say:

We believe university-level education can be both high quality and low cost. Using the economics of the Internet, we've connected some of the greatest teachers to hundreds of thousands of students all over the world.

I've signed up for "CS 101: Building a Search Engine" to learn Python. Aside from my FORTRAN course in 1976, everything I've ever learned about computers has been self-taught and ad hoc. I'd love to try it in a structured environment. (I enjoyed my FORTRAN course, but the Computer Science department at my alma mater made it really clear they didn't want a bunch of ladies running around their nice clean building.) Classes start February 20!

An End to Peaches

2011 was a sadly inauspicious year for trees on our ridge. The stag-horn sumac trees did not fare well in the summer, and this happened in the spring. This poor peach tree has been struggling for years, but every once in a while it would produce a small crop of flavorful (gnarly-looking) fruit. This spring, the wind took it down. I'm saving the last freezer-bag of peach pie filling for a special occasion.

Feature-Rich Rambouillet Wool Socks

Here's my most recent knitting--socks from my crock-pot-dyed, hand-spun Rambouillet fleece. Several years ago, I decided that this neppy, lumpy wool was not a failure, but an interesting exercise in color and texture: It's Not a Nep, It's a Feature. I tried out a few interesting rib and cable patterns, but they lost all definition in this "highly-textured" yarn, so in the end, it was plain old "Knit 2, Purl 2" ribbing. It was a fun, mindless knit, and these soft, soft socks are a treat to wear.