Frank Notes

Let’s pretend it’s Sunday evening and I’m blogging about what happened last night (Saturday) and today. Then maybe I won’t feel like such an incompetent blogger…

Here it is, Sunday night 😉 and I’m finally getting around to blogging. I should so be sleeping, but y’all know how dedicated I am to making entries on my blog. (Where’s the vomiting smiley?)

Last night I had SUCH a blast at the:

I got to attend thanks to the graciousness of The Unnamed Knitter. Thank you TUK! Just to let you know how popular this is, there was a line forming outside the ballroom AN HOUR before it was slated to begin! AN HOUR! That’s precious Market time. Luckily my pal, Brenda, was in line and I cut in with her (I’m the exception to the nice knitter rule. But the other knitters were so nice they didn’t say a word!)

So we’re standing there FOR AN HOUR (luckily they had bars set up, so we all imbibed!). During THE HOUR that we were standing there, I hear, “I just love your bag.” I turned around and it was LILY CHIN! THE Lily Chin. Commenting on MY Andy Warhol bag! (Yes, I asked her to take a pic with me. No, I wasn’t intimidated. She’s a Knitting Princess. I’m a queen. I outrank her.)

After that, what more could possibly happen to make the evening any better? How about SITTING NEXT TO LILY CHIN AT DINNER! She was RIGHT BESIDE me! Other than the smacking noises (kidding) when she was eating, it was quite enjoyable. Actually I pretty much just tried to ignore her as I was afraid I would say something stupid. Of course, I felt much better after she did this:

(I have to do this from home as YouTube is blocked from my work place… but it’s good, you’ll wanna check back…)

On my other side were my other buds (Cindy, C?, and Brenda)

Sunday morning I took The Perfect Edge with Galina Khmeleva.

(Sorry Galina, not a flattering pic, but your lace is GORGEOUS!)

I learned a lot, mostly that I’m not going to make a good lace knitter. After I’d taken a couple of pics of Galina she walked over to me and asked what I was going to do with the pics. I was a bit startled but I told her they were mostly for me but perhaps I’d post one on my blog. In my mind I was thinking, “Oh, she’s worried about copyright infringement.” Then she explained that she is considered a PUBLIC ENEMY in Russia because she published “country secrets” in her book. Imagine?! She published a book about Orenburg lace and is now an enemy to her country. Geesh.

Then it was back to the Market (I had to make sure I didn’t miss anything!). Then a 5 hour drive home. It’s late now (wink, wink) so I’m off to bed.

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When I’m wandering around Stitches West.

(OK, so we’ve established that I can’t sing and I can’t make a rhyme. Really, what rhymes with cheek and fits into a cadence of 11 syllables?!)

Having a GREAT time in Santa Clara (nope, not the one near LA, the one near San Francisco 😉 ). I arrived late on Friday night. Couldn’t sleep because I was pumped full of Diet Dr. Pepper, so was up until midnight. Got up at 6am because I wanted to be at the Santa Clara Convention Center bright and early to get a good parking spot and scope out the situation. (The truth is I needed to get there early to see if Stitches Market was going to be open as I’d forgotten the bag packed with ALL of my knitting supplies at home! Yes, at home, 300+ miles away. Here I was going to the knitting conference I couldn’t wait to arrive and I forgot my knitting supplies. Not my toiletry bag. Oh no. All my knitting supplies… sigh…)

Luckily, as we all know, knitters are the kindest of people! (Actually, after having spent a chunk of change at the Stitches Market, I was making a final (for the day) purchase and I heard the machine beep. I was like, “Oh shit! AmEx ain’t happy with me!” But then she handed me the receipt to sign. I said, “Oh, I was afraid I was declined. I’ve done a bit of damage today.” And she replied, “We haven’t had a single decline all weekend. Either knitters have really good credit or they’re too kind to try to use a card that isn’t good.”) So anyway, when I mentioned to the only other woman in the room that I’d forgotten my supplies, she told me to come sit down next to her. Yay for Brenda G from Maine!

I had an all-day class with Susan Lazear. Awesome class on interpreting and adapting what you see in fashion trends. She’s a professor of fasion in San Diego and imparted some amazing ideas and information to us. My mind was reeling by the end of the day. She’s also a really snazzy dresser! Although, I guess one would expect that from a professor of fashion, no? My classmates were amazingly kind, generous, and interesting. I sat next to Brenda G, sketch artist extraordinaire:

In front of me was the VERY witty OtherBrenda (who was sitting next to Leane, but I somehow didn’t get a picture of her):

And to my right were the lovely and gracious Alison and Jocelyn:

Another example of knitter kindness: As we were wrapping up for the day, we were talking about our plans for the evening (isn’t THAT in itself amazing? Talking about your plans for the evening with a bunch of strangers you just met?!) A couple of my classmates were going to attend the Stitches Student Banquet, the ticket for which I hadn’t purchased. A woman who was sitting in front of me comes over and gives me her ticket because she was too tired! How sweet was that?!

More later…   (Seeing as I started this on Sunday morning and am really finishing it on Monday afternoon!)

This is how I spent my day:

A Trio of Sugar Orchids

Sugar Cattleya Orchids

Sugar Moth Orchids

Sugar Vanda Orchids

Sugar Bamboo

All of this in preparation for a cake for a 60th surprise birthday party next weekend.

I think I referred to a job change I’m currently experiencing. Since August 2005 I’ve been the Special Education teacher at a small, charter high school in urban Los Angeles. My students having mild/moderate learning disabilities, but if you were to see them on the street and/or talk to them, one would never know they have any issues.

The last year and a half have been challenging for many reasons. It’s difficult being in the classroom with students in general (you really need to send your teachers an email thanking them!). It’s unbelievably strenuous working with students who have difficulties learning. In general I was just feeling worn out.

At the end of last year, I found out that our counselor was leaving. Loving the school as much as I do, I wanted to find a way to stay and continue to work with the population of students that attend our school. I applied for but didn’t get that position. Obviously I chose to come back in my current position, but I told myself that this would be my last year.

California recently passed legislation to increase graduation rates and as a result, my little high school opened a second counseling position. I applied and this time I got it. My excitement about being able to stay at my school has persisted while we searched for a replacement for me in the classroom. Finding a qualified candidate mid-year was challenging, but ultimately we were able to find someone who fit the bill. She started this week and I was in the classroom with her to help her transition in.

My students have all known from the beginning that I was selected for the new counseling position. Although they shared my excitement and were happy for me, I could tell a couple of them were upset about me leaving them. None of them said anything outright, but I could tell by the way one student had suddenly become defiant and began acting out towards me. Another student seemed to close herself off from me and the other students a bit more than normal.

Today as each of my class periods came to an end, I rounded up my students to take a picture with them. For the most part they all seemed to take it pretty well.

Incidentally, our campus had a “Fun Friday” which we teachers refer to as “Eternity In Hell.” We spend almost two hours with the whole school (500 students) announcing Honor Roll, presenting various awards and honors, doing some fun class challenges, and ending with Open Mike.

I can’t even hardly type this without tearing up. One of my students, a sophomore, who has made such (here come the tears!) improvements since she came to our campus last year, went up to the mike. This is a student who at the beginning of last year wouldn’t talk in front of the 4 other students in her class! This student walked up to the mike and began to speak. Our mike sucks (any donors out there?) and so it was broken up and garbled, so she stopped. AND STAYED THERE! She waited for them to get it fixed. She pulled up her hood to hide her face from the rest of the school because she was embarrassed and because she was in front of all of them, but SHE STAYED THERE! They got the mike fixed and she continued, “I would like to thank Mr. V for everything he has done for me and my classmates. I’m so happy and proud of him for becoming our new counselor, but I want him to know that we’re going to miss him.” And she walked back into the crowd.

You could have heard a pin drop. (Well other than the sobbing noises I was making from the sidelines…)

That made the last year and a half worthwhile. That’s why teachers do what they do. It doesn’t come frequently enough, but when it does, it makes it all worthwhile.

I’m trying to figure out where I fit on the Butch/Fem continuum, well, if indeed they belong on the same continuum. Assuming they do fit on the same continuum and they are at either end, placing myself somewhere on it seems to vary. I was going to say it varies with the day, but then I have days like yesterday where it varied by the hour.

I am beginning a new counseling position at my job and am now considered part of the administration of my school. Unbeknownst to me, with this position comes the privilege of paying to be part of the administrative social committee. (Yes, not only do I have to work with these people, but I have to socialize with them as well!) Last night was the first of these social gatherings. I was able to go back to my Midwestern roots for this one; it was at a bowling alley.

On any average day, I would say I’m about midway on the Butch/Fem continuum, maybe slightly towards Fem (but only because of how our society defines Fem, not because I’m all decked out in heels or anything) (although there was that one Halloween… But that took lots of therapy so let’s not go there.). This day however, as I was walking into the Bowling Alley with MY BOWLING BALL, SHOES, and TOWEL, I figured I was firmly planted more towards the Butch end of the continuum. I could feel my management colleagues looking at me with a bit of awe and wonder as I set my bag down and proceeded to take out my bowling paraphernalia. There was more than one envious look from the guys, “Wow, he’s got his own ball and shoes!” (It’s my blog, I can imagine what I want…)

As I went up and bowled my first game, I felt my youth in the Midwest come back to me. I was on a Bantam Bowling League for most of my junior and senior high years. However it wasn’t until moving to the West that I actually bought a ball and the bowling accoutrement.

Look, as I’m cleaning MY ball, I’m absolutely HIGH on testosterone! (That’s how I’m explaining that stupid look on my face anyway.)

Does my butt look big? (Doesn’t asking that automatically negate any testosterone build-up I may have had?) Why didn’t anyone tell me I had butt camel toe?!

So, while most of my colleagues were struggling to hit the 100 mark, Mr. Butch had bowled a 161. At that point, I felt a new chest hair sprout. I may even have rearranged in front of everyone.

And then I ordered a white wine… I got a few incredulous looks from my colleagues. I felt Mr. Butch morph back into Mr. Femininely Butch, or is it Mr. Butchly Fem?

Regardless, because I had to leave and get to the Stitch and Bitch I figured the discussion of my (nonexistent) testosterone levels was, at that point, moot. Besides, no time for worrying about being butch when my knittahs (as CAP calls them) are waiting. (In my mind, everyone is waiting for me to show up.)

WeHo SNB was fun (as usual!). I got to meet/hug/talk to CAP . She was much less socially inappropriate than I was expecting. No Turret’s-like shouts of “Porno”, although there was a story that involved the word “porno”. I got to give away some of my Kumquat Marmalade (THANK GOD! There’s a ton of it!). i also got to hang with Uccellina, Faith, Laurie Ann, and MonkeyGurrl. And I got to work on my Cambridge Jacket. Well, a sleeve on the CJ. Actually, I got more work done on the sleeve while I was driving to SNB than I actually got done AT SNB, but that’s alright. (What?! That’s HOW SLOW traffic was moving! You don’t expect me to waste valuable knitting time do you?! I got about an inch and half of my sleeve cap done in that drive! Besides, I’m butch enough to drive AND knit!)