(Insert Adjective) + (Name of a Day of the Week)

Yes, we've had Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now it's Giving Tuesday.  Well, at least one day gets designated for generosity and non-product-based support (let's coin it as NPB-support).  I generally try to ignore all these, but I've recently been enthralled by the videos and message of the I Am What's Underneath project and plan to support their Kickstarter campaign.



This could be a gift that keeps giving.

See Me, Eat Me, Watch Me, Read Me

Bikeyface had a hysterical commentary on hipsters and cycling in the winter.

Southern cooking happens to be a favourite of mine, and I think this weekend I'll be making biscuits and gravy with this recipe.

Continuing on the southern food theme, Gravy, the Southern Foodways Alliance's quarterly publication, is about food and social justice.  With the recent events in Ferguson as well as our headlong rush into the holiday season, this should make for compelling reading.  (A membership to SFA might also be a great gift for a foodie in your life.)

Speaking of gifts and the holidays, this list of 10 Essential Cookbooks is great.  I have three or four of them on my bookshelf already, but I'm always open to suggestions.

Black Friday confession - I've been sorely tempted by the emails flooding my inbox promising 15, 20, even 50% off items, but I'm holding fast.  Whatever reasons you might have to not shop today (anticonsumerism, Ferguson, broke, etc.), keep them in mind as retailers continue to tempt you.  If you do shop, support your local shops first.  Stay away from the chain stores if you can (apologies to my mother who has to work today although she's not at a chain store).

The Drama of the Gifted Child

Not really a post about being especially super smart but about giving and receiving gifts, and aren't we all a bit like children around the holidays?

This year the holidays reflect my experience with the shifts in the way I want to live.  I'm still investigating where this shift comes from but without a real need to answer the question.  I'm willing to go with it and see where it leads me.

In years past I've given my parents a rather detailed list of what I'd like for Christmas.  Remember what I said about all of us being children around the holidays?  Yes, I like presents.  There, I've said it (and I know that I have some class privilege here).  However, there's that shift, also mentioned above, and I've become less directive.  But here's the rub - we all want what we want, but usually we expect our loved ones to psychically know what that is (or to have paid attention when hints were dropped).  I'd resorted to the make/model/manufacturer list, but it eliminated the other thing I love about presents (yes, I love gifts) - the element of surprise, the personal element of the individual who chose the gift.

For my birthday, the ladyfriend toured through my Etsy favourites with me (she'd originally given me a budget, but I wanted her to choose) and picked out this amazing treesizeverse backpack -

Sure, it was in my favourites, but I'd kind of forgotten about it, and I wouldn't have pointed to it as an option because it was a little pricey.  However, she found it and talked about how happy she'd be if I had it.  I can't wait to use it.

Knitting Away

I'm in a moment of deep avoidance.  Home alone, I should be taking advantage of another hour or two of quiet to get some work done.
     But I'm just not feeling it.
     So now I'm fantasizing about starting a new knitting project, a project just for me.  Knitting is a real source of pleasure for me, and it also makes a statement.  It states that I have (or will take) the time and inclination to be creative, that I can actually engage in something so (relatively) slow, that I have allowed myself to engage in a tactile world.  Maybe it's because I haven't been engaged in a project recently that I'm feeling out-of-sorts.  Or maybe it's because I have a ton of marking to do.  That could be it as well.