Saturday, January 14, 2017

Why So Sensitive?

I just read a post shared on my Facebook news feed.  Maybe you’ve seen it; An open letter to Meryl Streep. In the letter the writer claims what Ms. Streep said in her speech was insulting to President Elect Trump and by proxy the people who voted for him.

 In the comments under the post one after another of Mr. Trump’s supporters said that Ms. Streep bashed our new president and tried to make his supporters feel like idiots for voting for him.

What I’m asking is all the people who were so offended by Ms. Streep to read the transcript of her speech again.  She didn’t bash Mr. Trump.  She didn’t ridicule him.  She didn’t mention his name. 

What she did was speak of the gestures President Elect Trump made when trying to imitate the handicapped reporter.  This is well documented.  Ms. Streep did not make this up.  What she did say was when someone in power humiliates someone without the capacity to fight back it opens the door for others to do the same.  “Disrespect invites disrespect.”

A teacher is the leader of the classroom.  If she “mocked' a handicapped student in the class wouldn’t the other students in the class see this as acceptable behavior? 

Read the speech and watch it again.  It’s available here and on youtube.  Ms. Streep was being honored.  It was her moment.  She’s free to use that moment to say whatever she wants in the time she’s allowed.

And most importantly, here’s the thing, never, and I mean NEVER in the past eight years have I ever felt like someone else was making me feel anything but pride in my choice for president.  I was proud to vote for him.  I feel the same about all the people I have voted for, including both of the Clintons

So for those who voted for Mr. Trump, deep down in your hearts and in your souls, stand up and be proud of the man you voted for to lead our country and represent our values.  He represents you.





Nine Sweaters, One Pattern

If you are friends with me on Facebook then you might already know that I make handmade gifts for Christmas; most often knitted ones.  Four years ago I made matching sweaters for the grandchildren.  There were only three grandchildren at the time; now we have 8!

This year I decided it might be time to knit sweaters again. I chose a cardigan pattern, Antler by Tin Can Knits.  I can't tell you what a delight it was to knit this pattern!  I loved it so much I knitted one for myself and now I'm considering converting the pattern from a cardigan to a pullover.  I started in late August.  I finished the 8 grandchildren sweaters a few days before Christmas Eve.


For cost conservation I chose to knit them in Caron Simply Soft yarn.  They have a wide range of colors and easy care instructions.




I finished mine last Sunday.




For as difficult as it is to ask 8 children to sit still for a photograph, on Christmas Eve no less, I thought the photo turned out amazingly well.