All my love and thanks for all the places we've been, crises we've survived, children and grandchildren we've loved...
...and your great patience in teaching me too many things to list...what I've learned from your pleasure in sharing with everyone who comes within your range.
All of us look forward to many more June tenths with you--
most especially yours truly ...
Yes, yes, it's very dark out there on the economy landscape. But so much has already happened since Obama took office. Remember, we said (back in the "good" days of August) that he was inheriting a landfill's worth of problems.
How about some rage toward the fool in office before him?
You think I do not have some complaints? Certainly--more troops to Afghanistan, too much nodding toward the religious. Of my gosh, he's not perfect. Much less perfect is the shallow media? They could back off on the bankers for a moment. And the annoying (to me) too-much-information, known in my family as TMI, about every dress/school/meal detail in the Obama family. Actually I would like to hear from Marian Johnson, Michelle's mother about her friends on Social Security, what it's like to go from her former life to "retirement" in the White House. Not going to happen because that might bore men and women under 50.
A worthwhile newspaper might focus on how close we've come to something like single-payer health insurance. Or that the administration has made moves that upset the Catholic Church and religious right who believed they had a won the struggle to make abstinence, that bogus sex education notion, the law of the land. Things undreamed of as within our reach only a year ago.
The top image here was drawn on the a sidewalk at 111th and Broadway last summer. Hani Shihada is the artist; I once watched him work on a dark street in Greenwich Village. By October it was still there, maybe touched up.
In January, I saw the black and white sketch on a sidewalk at 13th and Spokane S.E. in Portland, Oregon. Coast to coast we were very enthusiastic about Obama. Now we live with him day by day as he tries to clean up multiple messes, some decades old. I make mistakes so I assume he will too.
December One demands my attention every year. World AIDS Day began in 1988...twenty years and where are we? The statistics do not seem to impress the public any longer. Even though women are the growing group with HIV, they have no advocacy groups like those for breast cancer. Because they are women of color?
The other day, I took a picture of my latest knit sweater for Roxie. For the white background needed, I moved a framed picture. It was a Xractal I made titled "Loving What's Left." At its center is a neckpiece I made in 1993 with shells and a key, dedicated to a hope that a cure would be found soon for AIDS. My focus has shifted since then.
Prevention is what I speak to with Condom Amulets. Treatment is important. But not enough for the future of my granddaughter who will wear this little blue sweater. Her generation needs us to make Safe Sex as powerful a public health issue as smoking has become--in the United States. So many are more comfortable with focusing on HIV/AIDS in Africa--so far away, so different from us here.
The most depressing movie I saw at the recent Margaret Meade Film Festival was "Today the Hawk Takes One Chick." Gogos, the grandmothers in Swaziland, are left to care for their HIV-positive grandchildren. Their parents are dying in great numbers. Health resources are sparse. I was overwhelmed. The entire country seems doomed.
Taking a break from writing this, I walked into the other room. Ron was trying to find something to watch while he spins wool. By chance, he found "All of Us," a documentary on cable. Turned out to be a strong film-- sad and hopeful. It followed Mahret Handefro, an American residen (from an Ethiopian family) at Montefiore Hospital in the South Bronx. Her goal was to develop a program that would move women of color to take more control of their sexual interactions with men. In 90 minutes much territory is covered here and briefly in Ethiopia where she speaks with women who feel powerless in dealing with men's sexual demands. In the Bronx she works with two HIV-positive patients, with peers, and with her own issues around men.
Mahret develops what she names a "truth circle." She educates with hard factson the impact of unprotected sex on black women's lives--blacks who are only 12 % of the U.S. population but 68% of the HIV/AIDS population. Consciousness raising sessions bring it all together. All the women struggle with the question, "When do you bring it [safe sex] up with a man?" One of Mahret's patients acknowledges that she's realized too late that "men were a drug for me."
Mahret is open about her own problem with setting limits in relationships during a group meeting with her peers. As she points out, this is "true primary prevention." What's missing and more elusive is work with men. Women can change; men have to also. I hope you see the film, perhaps rent it to share with others.
Last summer the New York City Health Department began "The Bronx Knows," an ambitious program to reach the 250,000 people in that borough who have never had an HIV test. Health professionals know that HIV testing carries less of a stigma when it is a routine part of health care. Dr. Donna Futterman, co-chair of the program, looks forward to the Bronx becoming "the first community in the nation where everyone knows their status.” It is impressive that it began in June HIV testing has increased 20% in the Bronx.
Lately I've been thinking more about the category on my blog, "Grandmotherhood Now." Maybe this came about when I learned that Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, will move to the White House with the new President's family and Joe Biden's mother is going with him and his wife to D.C. Will we hear more about elder concerns?
I'm always on the lookout for ways grandmothers--and grandfathers--can encourage ideas important to the future of young people. Besides what I've described in the South Bronx, there's Making Proud Choices for teens at Planned Parenthood in Portland, Oregon. If you know of others, please leave a comment here along with thoughts you have about input elders might offer. Of course, financial support is always crucial.
Life happens. We had a plan to trek upstate for the yearly New York Sheep & Wool event known as Rhinebeck. But I spent two hours in the dental chair last Friday, so we missed the chance to see local friends, faraway vendors we've come to know. We have a special fondness for Rhinebeck-- heralded spot where Ron was seized with the spinning urge earlier in the century. Oddly its explosive recent growth has not made internet connection more reliable--reason for no link here. Maybe that's a good thing?
Loyal to the fiber, we'd planned our September trip to Portland to synch with Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival in nearby Canby, Oregon. Seems to be known locally as OFFF, at least that's what I learned from Judy Becker of PDX Knitters. She is famous for "Judy's Magic Cast-On," and a tiny business card that illustrates her technique.
The photo of me is on her blog Persistent Illusion, the first online appearance of the Couverle (French for "lid") from Knitty.com, re-imagined as a Condom Amulet--with the addition of a double-knit pouch to hold the all-important Safe Sex accessory. It was Amanda Gale of the ManThong Condom Amulet who suggested the inside-out style for those wishing to be less modest. (Pretty Aaucania cotton yarn, hand-dyed in Chile, purchased at Portland's Close Knit on our previous visit.)
We also met Cindy, Bobbie Wallace, Monica in the PDX Knitter's tent provided by the Fest in exchange for free knitting advice to the public. All decked out in Obama buttons, though mine was new to them. We plan to connect with them again on our upcoming, longer visit in the winter.
[Big Apple Knitters and NYC Crochet provided free help for an event hosted by yarn companies for a couple of years in Union Square. Nothing was for sale so it was a drain on resources of local yarn stores to provide staff simply to raise their visibility. Good place for beginning knitters, mellow at the outset in 2000,then became very crowded mostly by people seeking freebies. Now gone.]
Of course Ron bought roving. I am in a not-buying-yarn mode at the moment. We found a beautiful small rug for a wall in our daughter's home. It was woven in Teotitlan del Valle, a village of weavers near Oaxaca, our favorite Mexican city. "Vida Nueva," a Zapotec Women's Cooperative formed this first, and only, all-women's cooperative to market their handmade rugs directly to buyers. Pastora Guitierrez, a member of the co-op, was at their booth with Juanita Rodriguez, their stateside supporter from Corvallis, Oregon. Beautiful designs; you can contact them to order or volunteer to bring their work near you by emailing vidanueva@comcast.net. .
More sightings at OFFF...connecting again with
Carol, the Oregon shepherd we met at Black Sheep Gathering in June, student from Oregon State University who told me all about the Agricultural Extension Service, and a couple of very Portland-style innovators.
Over the past few months, starting with the growing intensity of the Presidential campaign, moving downward into the failure of capitalism in the U.S., there's a darkness around my country. For those of us inspired by the possibility of two transformative candidates, there was the hard reality: either a woman or a person of color would call forth unresolved angers in Americans.
Some of us have firsthand knowledge of that reality. But we were hopeful. Then the implosion of financial markets came to increase the darkening cloud hovering over our democracy. Finally, the vaunted--by some--billionaire Mayor of New York City chose this very edgy time to announce that the City could not live without him and his financial acumen. We needed to change our electoral rules and reward him to another term as King of the City. Some of us believe this is an outrage. Twice the voters have held up their hands, pulled levers, and said, "Only two terms, please!"
How will you and I carry ourselves through these troubling times? Of course, on the positive side, I expect Barack Obama to become President of the United State in 17 days! The financial picture? I dream that wiser heads prevail to find ways to lower homeowners facing foreclosure. King Bloomberg? Tune in later for the ongoing, soon-to-be-resolved saga...even royalty loses every now and then.
Years ago, walking on the North Carolina beach just after the tide had come in, hundreds of moonsnails were underfoot. Working with beads, I'd become fascinated with the ubiquity of eye-beads in jewelry and amulets as a way to protect the wearer from bad things. Always a small pouch with moonsnails is in my purse, so I can give you one, a good-eye to ward off evil. Imagine holding it in your hand. I hope it soothes.
Leslie a/k/a Tikkun Knits was first revealed to me via Ravelry, the over-the-top knitting/crochet/fiber arts beta site (soomething like Elderexercise) that requires membership to participate. At last count there were 100,000 members. It's free, you just wait till your number is called, then join. Though I have a few reservations about it, these were quickly overcome when three friends from the KnitaCondomAmulet project told me it would be a good place for expanding interest in safe sex.
Lisa Daehlin tirelessly helped me navigate the mysteries last Fall. So how do you find like-minded knitters among that gigantic group? An email arrived from a woman who'd seen this blog and had an idea to start a Condom Amulet interest group on Ravelry. She did a fine job. Then she disappeared. Lisa and I have soldiered on minding the store. There are now 85 members who have brought enthusiasm and many new ideas for amulet styles and ways to get them into the public space.
Tikkun Knits joined us, presented finely-made Condom Amulets. We are but one of her world-saving interests for which she knits or crochets remarkable things. What you see here is her latest, PIGS IN LIPSTICK-- in its amulet permutation. Of course you want to crochet it yourself. Leslie did this as a fund-raiser for Knitters for Obama, another Ravelry group--with 400+ members.
Then there's Holly Cara Price, a blogger I met at the voter registration storefront for Three Parks Dems on the upper west side. She too has applied humor to this scary woman at her newly redesigned site, Snoop du Jour, with the very appropriate title, "Baked Alaska."
Of course, these elegantly fun-poking ideas do not mask our fears. You need to read CLOTHES LINE where two Minnesota women blog. First there's information not seen elsewhere about a successful "Minnesota Women Reject Palin" rally followed by an on-the-scene report of the huge turnout in Anchorage for this week's "Alaska Women Reject Palin" rally. Is it happening where you live?
Finally, Maureen Dowd, not often my favorite New York Times columnist, in "Barbies for War!" poked around Alaska, found Sarah Palin's high school principal, R.D. Levno, who said:
She's a child, inexperienced and simplistic...It's taking us back to junior high school. She's one of the popular girls, but one of the mean girls. She is seductive, but she is invented.
Voter Registration Alert...Barackolate Cookies + Buttons ...Saturday, September 20...UWS
Get your cookie that encompasses ALL Americans: Democrats, Republicans, Independents --light ones, dark ones, beige, and of course, nuts. A modest campaign donation gets you a delicious treat, a little more, a proud OBAMA button. Sign-up for bus trips to canvass in Pennsylvania.
Upper West Side, Broadway and 105th Street (in front of Liberty House), 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Holly, Ron Bloom, and I will be there. and work in the campaign?
"Polar Bears for Obama" is the title of this second-grader's picture. Met her and her parents at Three Parks Dems' Campaign storefront earlier this week. She added her creative touch as Mom and Dad registered new voters, helped with changes of address--English and Spanish.
Getting out the vote needs you-- turn that ire into creativity!
Were I to drink more than my one-beer limit at a German beer hall, I'd find this on opening the door to the Ladies' Room. Thanks, Kay Gardiner...tell me if you find anything similar on your upcoming knitting book tour.
Or I might be watching the TV in South Africa and all of a sudden--what's this?--an advert for the ladies. And another one (is it just as 
snappy?) especially for the thoughtful gentlemen who want to be safe. Last year an award went to a the designer of of this pretty red condom applicator...an estimated 5.5 million people live with HIV and AIDS in South Africa.
If I lived in India, my cellphone would ring like this as it rested in my purse, next to my chair at Knitty City. Hat tip to Mike D., my neighbor who found this on Yahoo. We were co-chairs on an Emergency Preparedness Committee in our building; different issue, similar challenge to get people's interest. Ringtone might have helped. A grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation made this happen.
Comrade Lei Feng Condom is promoted in China as "stronger than [the late Revolutionary] hero's socks. Read the backstory for more detail and other Asian ideas for glamourous men and women featured on packages.
But I live in the great U. S. of A., a curious place. Our politicians treat the issue as if unsure whether it's worth spending the money on programs to decrease the number of HIV/AIDS cases. Or other STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). Or prevent unwanted pregnancies through sex education programs in schools.
We are, however, very big on tourism right here at home. Cleveland, Ohio, may become a vacation destination when more people learn about wonders of the new Museum of Contraception,
"...world's most comprehensive collection of historical contraceptive devices, numbering over 650 artifacts." [Italics mine.]
Don't you wonder if the exhibit includes Ohio's current HIV/AIDS statistics. I do.
NEWS FLASH: While I was awaiting new computer, TRACT HOUSE, with its retrofitted "Knit a Condom Amulet" manifesto, wheeled into New York City from Baltimore's Contemporary Museum. Sadly, I missed meeting visionary creator Lisa Anne Auerbach, at the opening last week, but will visit soon. Printed Matter, 195 Tenth Avenue (at 22nd), Tuesdays through Saturdays.
You have an unusual opportunity to get the SAFE SEX idea across to those clueless folks in the Republican Party. Okay, not all of them are clueless--not the ones who have made the switch to supporting the Obama-Biden ticket.
For the rest of them, here's an opportunity brought to you by Planned Parenthood Action Center. Click on that link and you will join me in this very practical consciousness-raiser--send ONE (every little bit helps) or one hundred.
I like to picture the moment as they open the package in Minneapolis...maybe in the presence of their vice presidential nominee.
Chinese women and men, 8/9/08, Long Beach on Long Island, New York, play volleyball. Net provided by beach, Chinese flag is their own. Why so important to them? Read HERE.
Over at Hattie's Web strong negativity toward the Olympic games. My inclination would be different, though I agree with her points about organized "sports" in the U.S. as an overblown commercial enterprise. But, my immodest proposal, is to reframe the conversation around Americans and sports.
Hattie and I are both grandmothers to children who live in the Northwest. I think it would be useful for us to begin a conversation about the value of chilren's school sports to alleviate troublesome issues in the culture--bullying, obesity, excessive competitiveness. We could re-visit Mister Roger's Neighborhood and co-op-er-ation, perhaps encourage a revival?
I'd ask local politicians to pay more attention to funding public school sports as a direct line to reducing childhood obesity. New York's Mayor Bloomberg has made calorie posting on menus his latest public health campaign. This is the same mayor who made a controversail decision for an exclusive deal with Snapple, sugary, fructose-filled beverage, for NYC schools. While it did nothing useful for kids' health, it also turned out to be a seriously flawed financial arrangement.
When I taught second grade on New York's lower east side in 1966, it was not possible to use the glass-littered concrete "playground" next to the school. No indoor program. The best I could do was walk us to nearby Thompkins Square Park, famous at the time as an encampment for homeless people, a hippie hangout rife with drugs.
Currently, I hear the eliminations of phys ed in public schools across the country. In New York:
One reason for the lack of physical activity in the city's 673 elementary schools, according to a [2003] study by State Assemblyman Jeff Klein's oversight committee, is that many of them do not have functioning playgrounds; that space is filled with "temporary" trailers for extra classrooms needed for these overcrowded schools. Some of the trailers have been there for as long as eight years.
Today I tried my idea on another grandmother at lunch. What about elders taking on issues outside their immediate, personal concerns? I asked her if we are too ready to accept our invisibility in the public space. Are we so anxious for approval from our grown children that we accept the "walking on eggshells attitude," described in this book by Jane Isay as the best way to negotiate these relationships?
Gee, I thought our lifetime of experiences and our perspective as "historians" were meant to be important in the life of a growing family, a community, a nation. We need to claim our rights as "gatekeepers for the future." That's the beauty of blogs--to have our say--at least among ourselves. I have some topics in mind.
What do you think, Hattie, and the rest of you elder-lurkers?
Addendum: It was through our connecting through Time Goes By, that it was possible for Claude at Blogging In Paris and me to develop the idea a few months ago for our online excercise support group, ELDEREXERCISE. Going very well, thank you.
We all use Ronni Bennett's blogposts as a touchstone, a rich medium. On my visits to TGB, I often click on one of the sidebar blogs and discover another fresh, Elderblogging voice. Ronni clearly enjoys being our link to the content and ideas she generates. She encourages us to branch out, make our voices heard. Whenever we do, it's a tribute to her efforts.
Planned Parenthood of New York City may not agree. 
But this sign on the front door of the Fifth Avenue entrance at THE MUSEUM OF SEX on a very warm, summer night validates my headline's message.
Reader, we were there! Two very aged people among the twenty-somethings. Both of us impressed by turnout, admired the Acti
vist Council of PP. For more detail--and there is much more-- read the blog Unrated and Unfiltered where I learned that there were 400 sweaty bodies crowding the two museum floors that night. Here's Ron in the line that snaked from Fifth Ave around to 27th Street, as we waited 20 minutes to enter.
Gave us time to ponder the window videos and visit an alternate universe via the pretty woman behind him. We heard intimate details of her job search, how her mother from California felt about where she lived in Brooklyn. A learning experience for us.
This drosophilia (fruit fly) caught my eye. I loved the image though the amazing reproductive skill they brought to my kitchen composting years did not endear them to me in real life.
Besides the money this $25 fund-raiser (do the math, as they say), brought into the coffer, think about the next day. It's Wednesday morning and some version of the following was repeated in offices and Starbucks cafes across the city:
Blondie: Listen, I went to the Museum of Sex last night.
Other: Isn't that expensive?
Blondie: Yeah, but for a few bucks over admission, I got food, a drink and made a tax-deduct to that right-to-choosing outfit, Planning Parenthood.
Other: Isn't it Planned Parenthood and choice?
Blondie: Whatever...sounds same to me.
Once inside, we saw many loose New York City (2008 edition) condoms for the taking. Left before the Silent Auction, where there must have been a strong pitch for Planned Parenthood services. I'm sure there was heated bidding on lunch for four with Dr. Ruth. The latter would have been a lot of fun--and I could have asked about reactions she gets to the sequined Condom Amulet I made for her. My new knit vest had its first outing, was complimented by a young knitter we briefly encountered.
" Rubber for a Rubber," is the title of color coordinated Condom Amulet around my neck. Rubber cord was used to create the beaded flower holding the condom.
*************************************************************
Important reports: It's the final day of the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. This was the information source of the 40 per cent higher HIV rate than had previously been reported. Read more here at RH Reality Check, with blogging by people on the scene.
Recent Comments