Becca's Blog

Kingbird in the 'burbs.

On today's morning walk with the dogs my ears pricked up when I heard an unfamiliar call. My first assumption was that a neighborhood starling had learned a new call--this wasn't their typical wolf whistle, but it was on their turf. I looked around, and the bird was conveniently in full view at the top of an oak, in full sun.

The bird was nearly robin-size, pearly gray, with yellow coming up the sides from its belly; it has a dark eye and pale under its eye, and a shortish, dark bill. (Mind you, I didn't have binoculars and the bird was 25 feet up.) I started thinking about olive-sided flycatcher or something in the same family.

After I finished the dog walk I went back with binoculars, but the bird was gone. Based on the field marks, though, it was a Western kingbird--the first one I've seen in my neighborhood. I'm more used to seeing them in open fields in the Central Valley, or in the cow pastures at Point Reyes.

Midsummer'sdayfeast

I just scored 2 pretzel croissants & some Jewish rye at Octoberfeast Bavarian Bakery on mid-University. This place is open very limited hours, so I lucked out.

Although I'm saving the croissants to take home and share, I snuck a little nibble of a corner. Nice salty, crunchy brown crust, with a soft, bready interior. I will get the rye bread all to myself: Jane's not a fan. 

I also poked my head into the recently opened New Amsterdam Coffee Shop, but didn't settle in because the tables all seemed to be occupied, it was unpleasantly warm, and the pastry selection looked rather thin. Maybe some other time it will be more inviting.

Sometime this weekend Jane and I need to get to Café Zoe, just opened by our friend. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's done and having some excellent coffee drinks.

How can I make amends to the oceans?

I know that headline sounds self-aggrandizing. I imagine that everyone (with the possible exception of Dick Cheney) feels grief, and at least a little remorse, about the oil that's been hemorrhaging into the Gulf of Mexico for over a month. So many people I know feel some spiritual connection to the ocean that we have to all feel this loss. But I can only talk about my feelings and how I might respond.

The fact that the Gulf is likely to be a dead zone for years to come makes me feel physically ill. I feel guilt and sorrow for the millions of ocean- and marsh-dwelling creatures who can't be protected from the pollution of their home. I feel regret and worry for the thousands of people whose livelihoods are ruined for who knows how long. I feel that the people of the Gulf Coast region have suffered enough already and this is really unfair. I feel selfish regret that this is one more place I haven't yet been that is now trashed.

I wonder if BP, faced with a ruinously high judgment for cleanup, will simply declare bankruptcy and disappear, leaving American citizens holding the bag once again. I know this will be litigated until we're all dead, and I wonder how President Obama intends to make BP "pay for every cent of the cleanup." I think about how much can't be fixed with money. I wonder if the allegations of shortcuts and negligence will ever be proved and if BP and its partners can be convicted and sent to jail for aggravated assault on the world. I want more than an apology from BP and its shareholders; I'd like to see someone commit hara-kiri on TV.

The things I can think of to do in response seem so pathetic: Venting my grief and anger in a message to my elected representatives will get me form letters in return. They'll posture and demagogue about this in predictable ways.

I want to drive my car even less, clamp down on our household energy use even more, and try really hard to use much less disposable plastic (because it all seems to ultimately end up in the ocean and it's made from virgin petroleum, for fuck's sake). I'll be making a donation to the International Bird Rescue Resource Center. I wish I could go to Louisiana and spend two weeks scrubbing rocks. It doesn't seem like much.

The Christmas Bird Count, as told to...

Hey, I did it again: I blogged about something colorful for my local hyperlocal blog, Berkeleyside.com. I thought the natives would like to know something about the crazy birders in their midst.

Baby, it's cold outside: Share some warmth

[Cross-posted (or will be) at Berkeleyside.com. You, my few but loyal readers, are probably aware that the Women's Daytime Drop-in Center is where I have taught knitting to clients for a couple of years, and the beneficiary of Kate's & my learn-to-knit class last spring.]

Right now, when we're having the lowest temperatures of the year and wet weather to boot, the clients of the Women's Daytime Drop-in Center could really use your help. The Drop-in Center needs warm clothes for women and kids, including rain ponchos and coats, umbrellas, socks, hats and gloves.

The center, which has served Berkeley's homeless and low-income women and children for over 20 years, provides breakfast and lunch on weekdays, along with support groups, referrals to social services, and a children's program. The center always needs toiletries to provide to clients, including toothpaste and deodorant.  Diapers, especially for toddlers, are also an ongoing need. An easy way to donate diapers is through the center's Amazon wish list.

The center hosts a holiday party for clients as well. You can donate gifts for women and kids, especially older kids, or even volunteer to help put on the party. To arrange for a donation, contact the center by phone (510-548-2884) or e-mail (staff@womensdropin.org).

Photo courtesy of the Sisters Project.

Don't faint or nothin'

... but I blogged.  Like a real post, where I had to string together more than a few sentences and used photos and everything. Just not here--it's over here. 

I visited Kristine and Adrienne and Wondermike at A Verb for Keeping Warm yesterday (they called out the Cupkates truck--how could I not?) and I got all civic boosterish (hence the post on the Berkeleyside blog).

Actually, a couple of months ago I saw via Twitter that some folks were starting up a local blog, and I thought "I'm as nosy and opinionated as the next Berkeleyite, so why not let my neighbors hear from me?" I haven't posted there often, but I'm hoping to do so more frequently.

Here are a few pics from Verb's holiday party yesterday, which I couldn't shoehorn into the Berkeleyside post.

 

 

This last image is from the studio of Mirto Golino, around the corner in the same building as Verb. I loved her stuff, and she was a blast to talk to. She showed me a hat she made from Verb yarn that was pretty pretty.

Knitting can't solve everything, but...

I wrote the following guest post for my friends at Help a Mother Out. The full post can be read here.

Some knitters seem to think there is no problem that can't be solved by knitting something. Whether it's for servicepeople deployed to combat zones or a neighbor who's lost everything in a house fire, a certain type of knitter will always leap into the breach and organize a drive to knit socks or a cozy blanket or a prayer shawl.

I've been knitting and crocheting since childhood, and don't get me wrong--I've done my fair share of charity needlecraft, starting with granny-square lap robes for my local nursing home when I was in junior high. I just don't think that knitting is the right response for every problem. For one thing, it's slow. Do you know how long it takes to knit even a preemie cap? If handknits were really the solution to a problem, there would be a serious imbalance between supply and demand. That's a bit facetious, but I wonder if all that knitting time wouldn't be better spent lobbying or protesting for change, and whether knitted donations aren't more about gratifying the the donor than fulfilling a need.

I had these doubts in mind when I approached the Women's Daytime Drop-in Center and asked if they needed a knitting teacher.

Planning a party is great fun...

but actually throwing a party is nerve-racking. Jane and I don't do it very often because we're both pretty neurotically insecure (about different things, but I think the anxiety level comes out about the same).

I certainly had fun planning our wedding reception five years ago—I was happily distracted from the tedium of my job for months. Lately I've been party-planning again, which is much more entertaining than, say, taxes.

On March 15, Boxer Press Kate and I are hosting a Learn-to-Knit party here in Berkeley. It is a benefit for the Women's Daytime Drop-in Center, where I teach knitting once a week. Kate designed the easy cat-toy pattern we will be teaching, and she wrote the how-to-knit booklet and the pattern instructions. And she pulled it all together in an amazingly cute package.

I came up with a menu of Asian-inspired snacks, like fresh spring rolls, satay, and fruit. I think menu planning might be my favorite part. I also scouted locations and settled on Cafe Zeste, on the edge of Strawberry Creek Park in Berkeley. Although we originally thought we would do the catering ourselves, sanity prevailed, and Cafe Zeste will be providing the delicious snacks as well as the scenic locale.

Crystal Palace Yarn donated yarn and needles for us, and K2Tog donated a $25 gift certificate as a door prize. I'm still working on getting a few more door prizes, and we could use a few more guests to make the event a fundraising success for the Drop-in Center. We think a $35 donation is a good amount, considering all that we're providing. I'm asking guests to make their donations directly to the Women's Drop-in Center, so their donations are completely tax-deductible and they are not defraying the costs of the event at all. All the event supplies have been donated, and Jane and I are underwriting the catering costs. We're happy to foot this significant expense, though, to raise money and awareness for a service that is close to home and close to my heart. As a bonus, it's supporting a local small business.

Bay Area buddies, if you know someone who would like to learn to knit in a really fun setting with a lovely group of people, give me a holler. 

The backstory on this little project is that the Drop-in Center hosted its own fundraiser last summer, an auction at the Berkeley Yacht Club. Jane and I attended, and it was a lovely evening. I rocked a black minidress, white fishnets, and a very mod hairdo. I looked great, if I do say so myself. If it weren't a bit much for midafternoon, I'd consider reprising the look for our knitting party. (No, I am not in the party shot below. I successfully avoided being photographed, as I try always to do.)

(I bet you didn't know that Berkeley has a yacht club, did you? Well it does, and it's a pretty cool little clubhouse with amazing views.)

Kate and I dreamed up this Learn-to-Knit party as an auction offering, and created a lovely display of instructions, menus, and invitations. (All of which Kate designed and printed. She has mad paper-arts skills.)

We actually swiped the the learn-to-knit party idea from Celia and Pamela, with their blessings and advice. 

During the auction I cruised by our display all evening, but no one bid. At all. The only items to receive no bids at all were ours and the $4000 guided trip to Costa Rica. Needless to say, I was rather crestfallen. But I vowed that our work would not go to waste, and I would organize the party as a fundraiser at some later date. Now I have, and I'm determined that it will be a success.

During our March 15 party, I figure I'll be too busy teaching to bite my nails and worry.

Stocked up.

You dug deep into your stashes, and I’m very, very grateful. Thanks to contributions from Nanda, Teresa, Síle, Kate, Kate, and Carolyn, I have a solid supply of needles and hooks, and enough quantity and variety of yarn to let my students go “shopping” for just about any kind of yarn their hearts could desire. With a selection ranging from solid-color worsted wool to tiger-print chenille, I think they’ll be excited to choose something that suits them exactly, and be excited to get started. You know the feeling... A heartfelt thank you to each of you for making that happen.

I want to say a special thanks to Kate G. for going out of her way to procure the perfect new-knitter needles, and for being my guide to the wonderful world of SCRAP.

My needlecraft students need supplies.

I've been teaching knitting (and a bit of crochet) at the Women's Daytime Drop-In Center for about five weeks now, and it has been incredibly gratifying. Every time I do it, I leave happier than when I arrived, because I've had a chance to share something I love with people, and watch them get enjoyment from it.

I haven't had many repeat customers yet, but I don't feel that's a negative at all--I feel that I'm offering some enrichment to whoever wants to partake, in any way they want to. Often that means that I get someone started on something small, and at the end of the session, they take it with them. As a result, the knitting and crochet needles that I've brought and the odds and ends the center had are rapidly dwindling. We've gone through a lot of yarn, as well.

I'm going to start scavenging for more needles this weekend, starting with a trip to The Legacy in Sebastopol. A North Bay knitter named Fina tipped me off to it last fall at the Nordic Knitting Conference, but I haven't been yet. So I'm going to combine a nice little weekend drive with some supplies hunting. If I'm lucky I'll run across a couple of good thrift stores in Sebastopol and Petaluma as well. Next I'll hit SCRAP in San Francisco and the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.

And I'll happily accept any and all donations of supplies--or tips on good sources. If you have needles that you don't care for, I'll take them off your hands. Super-small needles aren't great for beginners, of course, but I'll accept pretty much anything else. I've got plenty of yarn to donate in my own stash, but I'd be happy to give yours a good home as well (and yes, acrylic is very fine for this purpose!). Leave me a comment if you've got stuff I can take off your hands.