Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

I’ve finished the granny squares bag but I am not very pleased  with it. I ran out of red, pink and lavender-color yarn so I used dark brown for  the enclosure and the tightening strips for the strap. So I am now thinking of getting some more lavender and pink yarn to replace the brown.

Here is a photo showing the back of the bag.

And here is a photo showing the front of the bag.

Another solution is to line the inside of the bag with some extra brown felt I have left from previous projects. At least a brown inner lining would balance the color out a bit apart from providing a neat inner lining which might be necessary since the granny squares have plenty of holes in them!

And maybe, some more beadwork would make it look nicer too!

Just yesterday I managed to pull through a half-day lecture-discussion for Isis. My friend Len requested me to do this just a week ago and I found myself getting more and more pressured as the day drew near. It seems that I am still having difficulty trying to do some work that involve deadlines (plus the power outages during the past few days added to the pressure!).

However, the opportunity meant teaching myself to streamline the work (since I do have a tendency to overwork) in such a way that it becomes more relaxing and enjoyable, not only for myself, but for everyone. Any ex-workaholic knows how difficult it is to work again (for better!) after a burn-out!

And of course, with a little bit of my own income, I can buy more crocheting yarn!

And thank goodness everything went very well!

At last, I’ve finished (I hope!) my gray-yellow-crocheted bag! I decided to put beads along the row where I had to substitute some pink yarn for the gray, so as to conceal the “patch-up.” And on the corners of the bag where the strap is connected I decided to sew some crocheted flowers. It is a horribly girly and dainty bag.

Now here, below, is how the other side of the bag looks like - it has a small pocket with a flap decorated with tiny beads and sequins. I also placed an inner pocket inside the bag since I do find such things useful.

And lastly, I crocheted a mini purse to go with the bag.

Now I can get back to work on the granny-squares bag.

It’s Labor Day.

Jong’s sig line reads, “work in a capitalist society is the cause of all intellectual degeneracy, of all organic deformity.” That’s from “The Right to be Lazy” by Paul Lafargue.

Although I haven’t yet read Larague’s work, from a quick browse I can agree about the “organic deformity” of overproduction and man’s own slavery to his physical and economic machineries.

Between the “crippling and painful” “bovine life of the French peasant” and the free and lazy West American whose plowing is “an agreeable pasttime which he practices in a sitting posture, smoking his pipe nonchalantly”, surely there is a difference between hard work and “hard work” whereby “given the modern means of production and their unlimited reproductive power it is necessary to curb the extravagant passion of the laborers for work and to oblige them to consume the goods which they produce.”

I would add that in due time, the crippling life of the French peasant evolved into the sensual sentimentalist tenant and the nonchalant American Westerner into the decadent belaboring slob; the former whose life and trade is inseparable from the land, and the latter whose quality of existence lies upon the levels of his credit capacity.

At the worst of times in human society, it is our attachments that define us.

As the American President Bush Jr, that whimpering after the blast, keeps saying, “we’re making progress.”

In the meantime, the fruits of my own labor. Here is Tarsie peeking from inside my crocheted bag pocket.

And the crocheted gray-yellow bag in progress, below. Last night, Trevor and I combed the shops for gray yarn but we never found one. I combed the apartment for scraps but never found any either - all I needed were just a few more loops … so I settled for a very light pink color to substitute. It is not yet finished

At the market last week, while looking for vegetables, the woman selling bean sprouts and mustard leaves noticed Tarsie and couldn’t help but remark that I had a tarsier purse. It was so funny, I asked if she was from Bohol. She said no, but she has been there. I didn’t realize that Tarsie was as famous as Edward …

There are a number of things that I’ve been wanting to write about, after finishing the piece on ISO/IEC 29500. The idea of computer languages and information, is one, as a continuation of my philosophical appreciation of the standardization issues. Another is the sequel to Finding Linux, which I started several days ago with some thoughts on software licensing and contract agreements with users and manufacturers. A third subject is a critical reflection on the (buzz)word “open.”

However, numerous times I found myself rather discouraged (by a variety of things), fortunately finding comfort in my crochet work. I was able to finish a little bag yesterday, after deciding to replace the fancy circular pocket with a simple rectangular one, below.

It was a lot of work, working, un-working and re-working the piece. It looks fairly simple enough and yet I wish I could make it perfect. I enjoyed sewing the zip into the scalloped top of the bag and putting this little crocheted “ears” on both ends of the zip. There is also a small pocket inside the bag.

Then just this morning I started work on a new project, a bag made up of “granny squares”, below. This is probably one of the simplest and most basic crochet projects but I thought I’d do it anyway to see if I could work out something different with it.

At the same time I’ve been continuing work on a little gray and yellow motif bag. I want it to have a small bottom and a large top. I already finished the zip for this one because I was so excited to sew the zip to a scalloped edging. But I had to stop working on this bag for a while because I ran out of gray yarn.

These conversations with patterns and loops are becoming more enjoyable, and it seems that I am getting more used to the language. If I keep on with the conversation I would soon have enough crocheted gifts to give away to everyone in the family.

Writing or crochet, it is good to be able o do these things simply because they are enjoyable conversations, not because I have to submit a paper to a conference or make a bag to sell or to call “art.”