Category Archives: commiepinkoliberalism

And the winners are….

The winners are, in order:

Shannon - wiener piddly w/ L&V intention yarn: healing

Nell - black and white piddly w/ rosenrot

Sarah N - Gaslight Dyeworks yarn

Jennifer S - black and white piddly w/ indisch rot

Susan L - color piddly w/ wilder mohn

Lisa C - color piddly w/ Tausendschon

Marla G - L&V hope w/ piddlepouch

Carla H - SWTC Saphira

Sarah C - L&V courage w/ piddlepouch

Molly C - panopticon print

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated, gave, blogged, thought nice thoughts about, etc. in the Raffle! Winners, you'll be able to pick your prizes in order and I'll be contacting you all soon!

For the nerds:

This is how I did the raffle. I put each entry on one line in excel and assigned a randomly generated number from 0-1 to each entry. I then sorted by that number so that the names would be all mixed up. Then I numbered each entry from 1-358 and went to random.org to generate 10 numbers for me. Fortunately there was only 1 repeat, but it was my second to last number so I didn't think it mattered much. I went to random.org and got one more number and voila - we have winners!

09.19.08 5:24pm(3 comments)

AIDS Run / Walk Chicago 2008 Knitters Raffle

My husband and I are participating in AIDS Run / Walk Chicago 2008, a fundraiser (I’m walking, Tom is running) put on by the AIDS foundation of Chicago to raise AIDS awareness and funds for the HIV/AIDS project at the law firm where I work. As a matter of fact, 100% of the funds I raise will go to this project that provides free civil legal aid to those with HIV / AIDS.

On June 6, 2008, the world will mark the 27th anniversary since the discovery of the virus that came to be known as AIDS. Even though medical advancements have changed AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic disease, we are still without a vaccine or a cure. In fact, the HIV infection rate is rising among communities of color and among young gay males. In addition, there continues to be a dire need for education as well as a wide range of social service programs—many of which have recently suffered severe cutbacks because of decreased government funding.

Since it was established in 2001, AIDS Run & Walk Chicago has netted over $1.5 million to battle the epidemic. When you donate to AIDS Run & Walk Chicago, you help support the organizations whose work is so invaluable in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

I want to raise some money for the effort, but being who I am, a lemonade stand or a bake sale wasn't really my style. I'm not much of a schmoozer, so a cocktail party wasn't going to happen either. I'm not all that great at fundraising really, so I channeled my former management prof and decided to focus on my "core competancies." I'm raising money the best way I know how; I'm having a knitters raffle with a bunch of awesome prizes:

  • A signed print, Contentment, by Franklin of The Panopticon

  • Piddleloop piddly bags with numbers (representing the large numbers of people still affected by AIDS) with red handles,

  • a few wieners piddly bags with condoms,

  • a large and a small piddlepouch with sheep

  • Wollmeise yarn in red - Indischrot, Rosenrot and Wilder Mohn

  • Tausendschon Yarn from Germany, graciously donated by Mary Ann from NYC

  • Lime and Violet Intention yarn in Healing, Hope, and Courage

  • Gaslight Dyeworks yarn in 'black hole' and 'mars attacks'

  • SWTC Saphira yarn (that feels exactly like malabrigo and is 100% superwash)

  • Red ribbon buttons donated by the Moustache Factory

  • Each prize will also include an awareness ribbon sock pattern designed by me

Here are some pictures of the prizes:

Contentment by Franklin Habit signed print

Black and white piddly with wollmeise

Colors Piddly with Tusendschon

Piddly and Wollmeise

Colors piddly and wollmeise

Wrap your wiener!

Piddlepouch and L&V Intention: courage

Piddlepouch and L&V: Hope

Gaslight Dyeworks

SWTC Saphira - just like malabrigo and superwash!

    Raffle Details:

  • The raffle officially starts September 2, 2008 and ends Friday September 19, 2008 at 5pm.

  • A raffle entry will cost $5 each,

    • 6 entries for $25 - Bronze level donation

    • 13 entries for $50 - Silver level donation

    • 25 entries for $100 - Gold level donation

    • 75 entries for $250 - Platinum level donation

  • Each prize is as pictured.

  • Winners will be drawn promptly after the end of the raffle.

  • Winners will be drawn in order and will be able to pick their prize in order they were drawn.

  • The prizes will be shipped on Monday September 22, 2008.

Now I bet you're saying to yourself, "Self - HOLY CRAP! Those are some awesome prizes and I definitely want to donate to this worthy cause! How do I get in on this?"

Here's how to enter the raffle:

  • Go Here

  • Choose your level of donation or enter in a custom amount.

  • Fill out the form with payment information and click donate now

  • Forward your donation confirmation email to aidswalk at kristyland dot com -if you have a ravelry user ID, please send that too. I will respond with a confirmation email (just give me a day to process)

    • If you would like to donate via paypal, use the button below and then forward the email you get from paypal to aidswalk at kristyland dot com. This will go to my paypal account (that's the only way I could figure out how to set it up) and I'll transfer the funds manually.

    That's all there is to it! Tell your friends and Good luck to you all!

    09.02.08 5:10pm(11 comments)

Cleansing and maintenance

With the news that the condo that we're renting that has a foreclosure judgment against it is almost under contract by people who want to use it as an investment property and keep us as tenants, we have been finally able to unpack and settle into this place to make it more of a home than just a place to sleep. I never realized the impact of not having a 'home' until earlier this year and it was something that was causing me a great deal of stress. Well, that, being the unwitting victims of the foreclosure crisis and having boxes of crap everywhere. Long story short, we're finally unpacking crap and while I was in Phoenix visiting Gramma and Grampa, Tom unloaded our storage room. We have a lot of crap. A.Lot.of.Crap. And Tom and I are both feeling a little overwhelmed by it, so we've decided to do something about it.

Tom and I have been working really hard the last few weeks going through a bunch of stuff and creating donate and to sell piles in our bedroom which are both substantial. We're getting rid of a lot and it feels really good. Having less stuff, and less clutter, really makes living in our home much easier. This weekend will be the ebay and craigslist where we will attempt the amazing feat of listing all of the goods for sale. And there is a lot to sell.

Then, there's the maintenance of this new crap-less lifestyle which will be the most difficult part. How do we stay at where we are and not get caught up in the consumerist trap again? Why not try a month without buying stuff other than essentials? Sounds easy enough, right? Not really, but we've setup some ground rules for Not Buying it - July

1. The basic premise is to only spend money on and buy essentials. Rent, food, kibble for wieners, bill payments, etc. are all essentials.

2. We each get one exception - Tom gets to buy a camera lens he's been stalking if it ever comes back in stock and I get to buy a spinning wheel since I had previously purchased one and had to return it (pending refund which I'm still waiting on).

3. We may buy other semi-essential items from the moneys earned from selling off our stuff. I have a key-tar that I'm getting rid of that will probably get me around 250 bucks which when combined with a gift certificate unspent from Christmas could potentially buy Tom and I a much needed new mattress from Ikea - one of the ones with foam. Certified Space Technology. Certified by the Space institute. Well not really, but I really like saying that about foam :)

4. Eating out, is a luxury and totally unnecessary. However, we may treat ourselves to eating out once a week pending a review of how well we've accomplished not buying it for that week.

So here goes day one. Hopefully I'll be able to make it through the end of the day. Tom, I'm sure, will do just fine ;)

07.01.08 8:51am(9 comments)

Happy “Bring it on!” day

They brought it, and we got served. I don't think I'll ever get my shower of roses now - so much for that 6 month estimate.

Can you believe how long it's been since the first BIOD? Can you believe how much money has been spent on the Iraq War while public services in the States go to the shitter? Can you fathom how many people have suffered and died because of this?

DOESN'T IT MAKE YOU ANGRY?

07.02.07 5:56am(1 comment)

If you have money to kill people, you have money to help people.

Again, Go see SiCKO.

Update: Okay, so who saw SiCKO? What did you think?

06.29.07 1:04pm(1 comment)

Happy PRIDE!

So today I got to live out more of my Ultra Nerd fantasies and march with a marching band. But this was not just any band, mind you. This was lakeside pride - a marching band made up of members of the glbt community of Chicago (and surrounding areas). They obviously don't discriminate against straight people and in the search for volunteers, let me tag along, try to keep my left foot with the proper beat, do a little crowd control and make sure band members didn't trip on anything.

Oh yeah, and today we marched in the Chicago Pride parade - which is totally awesome. I *love* it when any large number of people come out in combined celebration / protest / public service / sparkly splendor. That and I love Drag Queens. I would've worn my 5" , pink glittered, platform heels (aka my weddin' shoes) but there was no way I was marchin' 3 miles in those so I wore my earth shoes instead. I would never cut it as a drag queen - I just can't walk that far in heels.

It was all incredibly exciting. If *some* people have their way I'll be playing in next year's parade. If I could only finish this pesky masters degree first ;)

06.24.07 8:43pm(4 comments)

SiCKO - go see it. Seriously.

Tom and I were fortunate enough to score (through the pusherman that is the Internet) some tickets to see a sneak preview of SiCKO at the landmark on Saturday night.

Holy Crap.

You must go see this movie. Seriously. Go see it when it comes out. Although I'm still a huge fan of "Roger and Me" I have to say that this is MM's best film so far. The most important thing to note (for all you Michael Moore haters) is that he really lets all the horrendous facts speak for themselves. Don't worry, if you weren't outraged enough before, you will be after this movie. *and* there's a guest appearance by Nixon. Oh yeah.

Please also resist the tempation to move to a more civilized country where they have public health care. I'm already brushing up on my French.

06.24.07 8:34pm(3 comments)

Vegetables are taking over

Within the last few months I've noticed this huge upsurge in people switching to vegan or vegetarian lifestyles. All of these people are doin' it. Many, vegans especially, rave about the health benefits, increased energy levels, closer to godness they get without meat products. Lots of folks say it's better for you and there are books and books and studies upon studies about how the human body and how it processes various foods and how everyone should just be vegans who eat only organic foods. And then there's the raw food movement, but that's one bandwagon I just can't get on right now. I was even vegetarian myself for awhile in highschool, but back then the options for vegetarians were pretty minimal in rural west central ohio and I ended up eating a lot of cheese, beans and rice. All vegetarians will tell you that one can only eat so much salad.

Now, I like a lot of vegetarian and vegan recipes, and I've been really inspired by all the success stories. However, I don't necessarily have the same motivation that many do when going vegan. Coming from where I do, I understand the life cycle of farm animals. Until I moved away for college, a majority of the meat that my family ate came from the purchase of a whole or half animal which we then had butchered and prepared for us by the local butcher and then filled the box freezer in the garage. I am also fully aware that not all meat comes from factory farms and not all cows eat cannibal feed. You can get, fairly easily, grass or grain fed meat that does not come from nasty factory farms, and you can even get it in the big city too. You get the picture; I'm not buddhist nor one to be campaigning for PETA anytime soon.

I still see the benefits of going veggie or vegan. I want to lose weight, have high energy levels, be focused, eat more soy, etc. Even the stereotypical lifestyle is one that I can admire - running and doing yoga daily, meditating, eating really healthy and wholesome food, living greenly and consciously, recycling, wearing unbleached cotton, and all that stuff. I'd like to do that. I want to do it. I can see myself doing it for a long time. I guess the question for me is if this is something that I have the discipline, will power and self control to do?

I'm not sure if the proximity of a whole foods has anything to do with it but I have been really interested in this super conscious healthy living stuff lately, but I'm reading mixed reviews. Does it really work or is it expectancy effect? If I drink my weight in green tea daily, will I live forever? What about omega 3 and active enzymes? I guess there's a lot that I need to figure out.

06.10.07 10:27am(2 comments)

In love with LUSH

I've been familiar with LUSH for quite some time, but I always felt that I couldn't do beauty with only nature's ingredients. My skin was in need of serious help, and harsh chemicals. Hell, even mild chemicals weren't cutting it for me. And yes, I wanted the stuff to be incredibly effective, andd I wanted it to be cheap. I could care less about anything else. Little did I know.

Then awhile ago, I was doing my daily blog reading, including lay-c.com where a discussion on face products that work , including all natural face products, was going on. Somebody linked to this place, which totally intrigued me and freaked me out at the same time. After reading about how my current regime was totally toxic (I'm addicted to you, moisturizer, don'tchya know that you're toxic), mooching some cream from Lura, smelling Carla's godiva bar in my bathroom all weekend when she visited, and stopping by the LUSH display while in Macy's, three straight days in a row (I know - I'm a horrible Chicagoan), I figured I'd go and give it a try. I could resist no longer.

So I went. I bought. I used the products. I'm in love. I'm a believer. Then I went back for more. Twice. Here's what I got:

  1. A shload of Bath bombs

  2. A few bubble bars

  3. lemslip buttercream

  4. Flying Fox and WHOOSH temple balms

  5. Seanick and Godiva solid shampoos

  6. Jungle solid hair conditioner

  7. Angels on Bare Skin facial exfoliator

  8. Fresh Farmacy facial cleanser

  9. Imperialis moisturizer

  10. Enchanted eye cream

  11. Ultrabland cleanser (for makeup removal)

  12. Helping Hands handcream

  13. Love Lettuce and Crash Course in Skincare fresh face masks

And for purchasing so much (don't worry, I didn't get all of it at once, but my first trip was a biggie) I received a bunch of winter and holiday gifties, soaps, shower gel, bath bombs, etc. I also got a bunch of samples which included shower jellies, deoderants, freshface masks, shaving cream. I didn't like the jellies and deoderants. I loved the fresh face masks, and the shaving cream was just aight for the dog.

Some things to note about Lush products:

  1. They all smell incredibly good - omg.

  2. They are all natural and handmade. Yay.

  3. Unlike a lot of other all natural and handmade products, they actually do what they say they do and well.

  4. They have a strict no testing on animals policy

  5. Having such products that work well is *awesome*

Seriously though, I'm certainly not the kind of girl to go on about bath and beauty products. This stuff is amazing. You should check it out. If it might be a bit too hippy-ish for you, just get some soap or a bath bomb. You'll love it. I gar-own-tee.

03.28.07 11:24am(13 comments)

An artist in need…

I've got a big ole bleedin' heart, so naturally when stories about starving artists who are not starving but instead need money for lung operations come along, well, you know how I am.

I don't really know this guy, but I understand him to be quite the fixture in the Chicago creative scene and I've come across his work tangentially over the time that I've lived here. Don't ask me why I'm so willing to help some unknown dude out, but I'll try to blurt out a reason. It's people like this guy that make a community out of a large city and really put the heart in Chicago. And I gotta say, I have a profound respect for people who are able to go whole hog into art because there's no way I could do something like that.

Anyway, here's what my eloquent friend Mouse says. So yeah, listen to her:

My good pal Phineas X. Jones is a stellar painter, photographer, web designer, and groovy guy. Unfortunately, he was recently laid up for several weeks with pneumonia, which didn't heal properly, and now he needs surgery (soon!) to fix a fluid-filled lung. And, like many self-employed creative folks, he has no health insurance.

So he's selling off tons of his weird and gorgeous work -- collages, paintings, drawings, and photos -- at www.nocommercialpotential.net. Buy some art, hire him to design your website, or just chip in a few bucks to the lung fund if you have some scratch to spare (free karma points!).

02.12.07 7:49pm(2 comments)