Happy Solstice.

Yes, I know, I know. There's always some astronomical leeway and sometimes it's yesterday and sometimes it's tomorrow. But the Celts usually had a three-day leeway for their holidays (often turning them into three day parties), so years ago, I decided, hell with it, it's the 21st. So, happy solstice.

I usually celebrate the day by doing things I hope will continue through the coming year. Like for prosperity I'll bake something and give it away. This year's solstice is about GETTING SHIT DONE. All the stuff that's sat around while I changed drugs, had migraines, drooled into the couch, and whatever the hell. I'm trying especially to wrap up old business and start new.

Which means GETTING BACK TO THE KAL sweater. Once I get done with the clerical end of all the crap today, I'm going to pull it out and knit like the wind.

I'm also wrapping up the Goob's schooling, hopefully for once and for all. I've cleaned up a bit (GASP!) and I've made a damn doctor's appointment*.

Finishing up this lace spinning today would put a cherry on it. It's possible; there is actual visible shrinkage in the plying ball now. The first THREE DAYS, I plyed off it with no visible change in size, and it was starting to freak me out quite a lot. But finally, it's shrinking. Woohoo!

Then I start more laceweight. I should really try to decide on what. I'm thinking whatever's on the top of the pile. (I cleaned the living room while the Goob was on vacation and "accidentally" found AN ENTIRE POUND of fiber I'd forgotten I'd bought. Whoops. Time to spin like the wind.)

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To totally change the subject, we've got a couple of lawyers showing their asses in a big way, this week.

The one you've PROBABLY heard about was the letter from the US Olympic Committee to Ravelry (found HERE), complaining that the Ravelympics "...is disrespectful to our country's finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work." There are some other gems, but you get the idea.

Having spoken to many lawyers about the First Amendment, the Internet, and Free Speech, well, yes, this is a bunch of bullshit. But the USOC has really deep pockets and is known to litigate the holy fuck out of all kinds of innocent bystanders for using the name Olympic, including companies in the Olympic Range of the Pacific Northwest who've been around longer than the USOC has. It doesn't stop them from being assholes.

If my opinion counts for anything, I think we should change the name of the games, simply to keep Ravelry out of the fire. The Ravelympics weren't their idea in the first place; Rav is just the site that hosts it. To drag them into the legalities would be cruel in the extreme and cost them a fortune.

However, the Ravelympics are an international thing, and the USOC isn't. I saw we keep using the name everywhere BUT Ravelry and let them know they can go fuck themselves. I know Twitter has exploded with this, and the @USOlympic official feed has been slammed with angry knitters in varying degrees of rudeness telling them what they can do with their "disrespectful" thoughts. (I happened to use the term "FUCK YOU" but I'm sure that doesn't shock a single one of you.

ETA: The USOC has issued a statement which is even more offensive than the original, if that's possible. They DON'T apologize, and then they mooch hand-knits like they're doing us a favor. Text available HERE. Try not to let your blood boil.

The other legal clusterfuck I've been watching? The Oatmeal vs. Charles Carreon, egomaniac lawyer. (I would normally link to Carreon's website about now, but it is the most offensive puddle of shit I've seen on the 'net in a long time, so fuck that. I refuse to contaminate my blog with even the name of it.) Heck, I'll let the Oatmeal explain it, HERE. There've been quite a lot of really good commentaries, as it has unfolded, the best being over at Pope Hat. His latest update can be found, HERE. Read the comments. The comments are extremely educational and interesting and not at all pissy like you find on most major sites. This is going to continue to unfold in German Operatic fashion, but I will say here, officially and for all time, that anyone who sues the American Cancer Society and the American Wildlife Federation, over a cartoon SOMEONE ELSE drew of a woman trying to seduce a bear, is a flaming douchebag. Flaming. Douchebag. Charles Carreon, yes, I mean YOU ARE A DOUCHEBAG. And no, The Oatmeal is not inciting me to say jack shit. Suing charities = automatic douchebag status. ASK THE INTERNET.

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That's about where things stand here. Getting crap done, watching lawyers be asshats (like that's new) and slugging back tea.

Oh, and I just tried to clean up my videos folder and accidentally deleted everything, so, you know, business as fucking usual.

Maybe later I'll dance under the moon. It IS the solstice, after all. I bet the Goob would join in.

*For those keeping up on the migraine/seizure/WTF saga: I saw my GP this week and asked to see a specialist. He poked around his records, and then informed me that my chronic pain doctor IS A NEUROLOGIST. (I thought she was an anesthesiologist.) I didn't need a referral, and I should see the specialist I already had, instead of trying to drag in another. Mostly I feel stupid, but the appointment was made and I see her Monday.