This photo is older than the others here. I just never felt un-sad enough to post it, I guess.

Our musician friend Phil Wintermute passed away suddenly in September. We went to the official service at the funeral home later that week. But a few weeks later, there was a gathering at Magdalenas which some called “Philfest.” We sang songs Phil wrote, for the most part, and we told stories and ate good food.

I find that my camera does not do well in low light. The yellow and orange walls in Magdalenas do not work well for me, but someone took this photo with my camera at the end of the event. The place was jam packed, you could hardly move, so the people shown here are just the tip of the iceberg.

It was long enough ago that I can not remember everyone who was there. It seemed everyone who works at Elderly Instruments was there including Libby who had a lot to do with making this event happen. Friends of every age, and musicians from across Michigan, particularly Lansing and northern lower Michigan, were there.

In this photo I can identify musicians Seth Bernard and Daisy May Erlewine; Hall and Morgan; The Fabulous Heftones; Brandon Foote was there, Chris Dorman, Miko Fossum of Magdalena’s Teahouse. And at least one of Phil’s sisters, and at least one Niece.

I am leaving out so many, but trust me, it was a powerful love fest for our wonderful friend. I was glad to be there though it was difficult in some ways.

My favorite story told was a guy who was a new employee when Phil was also new at Elderly. A customer came in to show off what he knew, with friends who didn’t look like they wanted to be tagging along. He grilled this new employee about a particular niche market, asking him tricky questions and then when the worker said things like “I think so” the guy would correct him and say WRONG… blah blah blah.

The young employee was trying to be polite but things were not working out well for him. So the customer started talking to Phil. He asked Phil: Who is the “X-brand” expert here? And Phil answered truthfully, “You are.”

If it’s true, say it. That was Phil.

Here’s a photo I took of Phil (left, in hat) with Paul Bennett. They played out as a band called “Scratch and Sniff.” I love this photo, taken around 11pm in front of Dagwood’s neighborhood pub, with the traffic lights and I-127 in the background.

Rest peacefully, Phil. Knowing you surely did change my life.

In September, our music friend Lil’ Rev came to stay with us. He played a Wednesday night concert at Altu’s restaurant which drew a respectable crowd despite the unusual day of the week.

Rev has been at Altu’s for three consecutive Septembers. His friends in town keep multiplying.

Rev encourages kids to come up and sit by him, to gesture along with his train song, and to just be part of the crowd. You can see that above. These kids have seen Rev before and were looking forward to this concert.

He invited our friend Jen Sygit to come and sit in with him. He also invited musician David Klein to come in with his cornet.

Above you see a photo of Rev and Jen. Below is a photo taken after David, Brian and I sat in with Rev on his last number of the night.

It was a wonderful time.

My knitting kids keep on knitting, even when I do not report it here. I have two photos of knitter A.’s projects. First is a hat she finished while at Altu’s restaurant listening to Brian and I perform as The Fabulous Heftones, a few weeks ago:

The yarn was handspun by my friend and boss, Rae of Rae’s Yarn Boutique. It was A.’s 14th birthday present.

This kid wasted no time making it into a lovely and perfectly-fitted hat. She was inspired by a pattern Rae wrote, the EZ Fit Hat. I highly recommend this pattern, which can be done in a variety of gauges.

But that is not all! She finished the first sock of her second pair. The first pair was completed this July. I must brag that she is so accomplished that she already was able to make this sock without assistance from me until binding off. It was toe up and she had knit seed stitch (you heard that right) on the cuff. She was not sure how to bind off following seed stitch.

The fancy cuff pattern? She made it up herself.

This child is a knitter. She’s not just a student. A student might not knit without a class. A knitter will knit without me or any other structure or outer expectations. This child knows enough and is inspired enough to not need me any more. She always can learn more, we all can, but she is set for life if she never sees me again.

I’m proud of her. Not proud of my teaching, though it has been an honor to work with her. But proud that she has taken enough initiative to make this artform her own. She is a special person.

So without further ado: Sock 1 of pair 2. I must mention that she’s pretty far through sock 2 of pair 2 by the time I am posting this.

(She raised her foot on the couch so I could photograph it better. Notice the pink sock on the foot supporting her? That is pair 1.)

This one is a bit hard to post. Please bear with me if I meander with my words a bit.

I have worked for the City of Lansing, both as a contractor and as an employee, since probably 1993. I started out as a contracted community education instructor, teaching computers when they got a grant which bought them 4 machines with Windows 3.1 on them.

Over the years I taught computers, then we started a computer lab where I supervised. I would knit while waiting for kids to ask me for a new game, and they started to beg for “sticks” and “string.”

It took me 2 years to talk my then-boss into letting me start a program. I had two adult volunteers, Luann and Jean, and a handful of teens who knew me well and were able to do basic knitting functions. I had piles of kids, but with that support we made it work.

Over the years that program (I called it CityKidz Knit!) changed and became different things, sometimes after school, sometimes summer program. In recent years it has become harder and harder to make the schedule they needed work for me.

I was a “temporary employee” (on payroll but re-hired every fall) for most of the time I was at Foster Center. This year more paperwork was required for me to be hired, including a doctor’s letter saying I was physically capable of doing my job. Except I was between doctors and nobody would write a letter for me without me paying a fee for a physical (which would probably equal about 1-2 weeks’ pay). This requirement is surely important for a soccer coach; but it was not something I wanted to pay for, to teach knitting 2 hours a week.

I decided that was my cue to just step down and start doing things in a new way elsewhere. So I moved out of my room, maybe 3 weeks ago. It was hard, and I was glad to have some moral support for the day. Some of my knitters from previous terms came by (we had made a date for this on a previous week).

I let them “trick or treat” and take as much yarn home as they wanted and could carry. Above is a photo of me with my CityKidz knitters on my last day at Foster.

One mom and a brother of a loyal knitter helped me pack up the boxes that contained my own personal belongings I had accumulated there through the years (including my beloved poster of Sojourner Truth with her knitting).

One special item on the wall was a poster-sized electric green version of the poem I use to teach kids to knit (with their right hand controlling the yarn… they don’t all have the coordination to do it any other way). We made the poster for an open house one year and it has been on the wall ever since.

It turned out that my boys at the time did most of the decorating of the poster. They included names of other kids in the program, although sometimes they were unclear how to spell those names. I find it charming. They also drew a few hand-held electronic game gizmos. Love it!

When I worked with the computer lab, I had kids who wanted to play the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing games. I would not let them do it by looking at their hands, as true typing skill can pay the bills and fill hungry bellies (been there myself).

When I was gifted with a pink feather “boa” wrap for Christmas one year, I took it to the lab to cover hands during that game. Much fun. So on my way to the car on the last day at Foster Center, I wore a pink feather wrap to the car. Sam took a photo of me:

The necklace is a finger-knit boa which was a gift from a kid knitter. I had knitter A. do the photostyling for this photo… thanks to A. and brother Sam and mom, for being my help and my support that day.

For the record, I am teaching kids at Rae’s Yarn Boutique on Wednesday afternoons from 3pm to 4:45. It’s an extension of the program I had this summer. Kids buy a pass good for 4 sessions, for $20. They can share a pass, sell it to a friend, whatever… but there are no refunds. They need not attend every week.

I’m hoping to attract kids from very-local schools after they get out, there are 4 within walking distance. It is a different thing than a walk-in program (CityKidz Knit! was free to the kids) but this is how I have to do it, to make it work for my current life situation.

The new program is called Knitting Rocks! (The kids like this name, and I wanted it to be different than the program at Foster, since it does have different parameters.)

I still can take donated needles and yarn, though the few kid knitters I’ve kept are allergic to acrylic and sometimes other synthetics (yes, really… so is Rae and a baby I know… and I can’t tolerate polyester, myself), so natural fibers are appreciated at this time. I can use a few tote bags, but am not in need of piles of anything but needles and wool/alpaca/mohair at this time.

Oh… for anyone who has given up double-pointed needles in favor of a circ method, if you have double points in sizes 2 to 10.5, we can use those as well. In larger sizes (8 and up) , we have plenty of heavy metal DPNs but not wood, bamboo or plastic.

For the record, donations to Foster Center were tax deductable. Donations to my kids now only pay back in good karma. For some of you, that will be enough. Others, I do understand if you go elsewhere.

I don’t know who wrote the first “I love you Lynn!” note on the board. Young D. added to it. That touched my heart. Since I still work on the East Side and I dance at Foster, I still do see “my Kidz” from time to time. They know I still like them but it’s hard for all of us to adjust.

It went rather well, really. What will tomorrow bring?

I’m just going to post a bunch of photos for several posts, just to show you photos I took and never put up here. Usually you guys like pictures, so I’m thinking this might be fun for all of us, delay or no.

Back in September, about a month ago (dang), we went to Harvest Gathering up in Lake City, MI and had a great time. We stayed just one night and crammed in as much as we could while we were there.

Here’s a moody photo of Jen Sygit’s set, with Brandon Foote at left and Drew Howard/Captain Midnite at right:

Another of Jen’s set, this time with Katie Grace and Cap’n. Notice the bouquet in sap bucket I showed earlier in a mood shot:

Here is a closeup Brian took, again moody because of the odd lighting and my camera’s quirky moods with stage lighting. Behind the bass is me (in beret), then a woman whose name I think is Darlene, then Susan Fawcett in the straw hat, then Jen herself. I was honored to be included, it was really fun to be part of this one piece:

Here’s Chris Bathgate and his zillion-piece backup band called “the Hail Mary’s” including a brass section up in the rafters, top left:

Drew Howard in a rare lead performance, with friends. After a month I can still identify Brandon Foote, Seth Bernard, Jen Sygit, “Daisy” May Erlewine, probably Laura Bates, Mike Shimmin on percussion, and Susan Fawcett. This is an all-star Lansing/Northern Michigan roster of musicians, let me tell you:

It was just plain a lot of fun, and this year was not frigid as it had been last year. Maybe next year we will stay for 2 days. It’s a thought…

OK, I maybe finally have my act together. Maybe. Enough to have a photo of the prizes, anyway.

My favorite answer (to the question of how to adjust to the end of summer) was to have a picnic in the living room, suggested by Chelle. She wins a Grand Prize of one skein of Socks That Rock heavyweight (worsted) in colorway County Clare (four greens and one turquoise), and a First-Time Toe-Up Socks pattern.

Congratulations, Chelle! (Chelle, I know you have some of my patterns already, so let me know if I need to substitute a different one.)

I pulled names for 5 more yarn/pattern prizes, and the rest of you who responded before the deadline all win a pattern.

Charlotte: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK. The label says it’s Blues/Purples but I say it’s Green-Turquoise-Blue if you ask me (I see no purple), and my First-Time Toe-Up Socks pattern or Wristwarmer pattern, you choose (this is handwash yarn if that helps you decide).

Rachel: One skein of what I’m just sure is Cherry Tree Hill sock-weight merino Supersock, colorway is probably Monet (it’s missing the label, unfortunately, but the yarn s so gorgeous I’m sure she will forgive me), and my First-Time Toe-Up Socks pattern.

Deborah Robson: one skein of Ella Rae Classic (worsted-weight wool) in a lovely solid blue color which is romantically named “41,” and a Wristwarmer pattern.

Riin: One skein of handpainted sockyarn by Ellen’s Half-Pint Farm, in greens and blues, and my First-Time Toe-Up Socks pattern

Diana Troldahl: Two balls Merino Big, one in plum and one in turquoise, and any of my patterns you don’t already have.

Valerie: ZigBagZ Mini Collection pattern (since you are in Australia, let me know if you prefer a PDF version or will wait for a printed copy).

Debbie: Wristwarmers (any gauge) pattern.

Kristi: Wristwarmers (any gauge) pattern.

I will be sending all of you an email to ask for a mailing address. Thank you for being a part of my life. Apologies for the wait, but maybe winning will make that wait worthwhile.

I want to thank each and every one of you who has commented and/or supported me in any way lately. I had a whirlwind handful of days but I am feeling better each day. The love from you is deeply appreciated.

I have 9 people who commented on the contest, have prizes pulled out and photographed and will announce winners in my next post. I did not forget but was a bit overwhelmed with other things for a while.

I have photos of Fall in Lansing, and student projects as well. One step at a time, I’ll show them to you. Right now I need to go teach a few lovely folks at Rae’s shop.

Hugs back to each and every one out there in cyberland.

Sometimes you have an affection for an inanimate object far beyond what can be explained. Sometimes that thing has meaning and symbolism in it that no-one else sees. Sometimes you pretend to yourself it doesn’t matter because it is just an inanimate object, and an imperfect one at that. Only you understand its value, nobody else notices.

Sometimes you lose the object. Sometimes you grieve. Big deep belly sobs, pacing the floor anguish. Obsessing the mind with its loss for days. Powerlessness is the theme of your life as you consider how you could have changed what is now unchangeable.

Sometimes you lose many things in a short time. Lose a friend (who must be mourned), lose the best summer of your life, lose an inanimate object? And the losses, though unequal, roll up into one big ball which is impossible to swallow whole… and which makes it hard to go forward.

But it’s just an inanimate object. If only I could tell my heart and mind to shut up…

I have so much work to do. I don’t have time for this.

Today is the 12th anniversary of my marriage to Brian. I usually am full of words, but what can I say?

Marrying Brian is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me. At age 38 I was a bride, and my life just got better than I ever imagined it could be.

The “stuff” in our lives is modest. No matter, I’m rich. My husband lights up when I walk in the room. He is kind. He is interesting. We feel like this is yet the beginning.

What else could I want?

OK, this one is boring if you aren’t into problem solving or geeky stuff. Come on back tomorrow, if this is not your cup o’tea. OK? Yeah, the photo is a decoy and not about much in this column. (LynnH hugs you as you leave…)

Geek, Geek, Geek (again)

I spent much of 3 days trying to solve my problem saving Mom’s book #1 properly. I read the help files on the site I was planning to use to print her book, I read everything I could find on Google, asked a few friends who do similar work. No luck.

Then I wrote to an email group on Yahoogroups, where the members of that group do basically the same sort of work I do (writing/self-publishing patterns). I got several really helpful emails, some of which told me to do what I had already done.

The issue in particular, for those interested in details, was that I needed to create a .PDF file from Adobe InDesign, and it had to have the font fully embedded. The font I was using did not have restrictions on doing such a thing. Yet no matter what I did, I got the font embedded as a subset (not all the characters) rather than the full font. I must have tried to do it a dozen different times, with the same result.

When I tried to upload a PDF with a subsetted font (or no font embedded at all) just to see what happened, the site would error out and tell me I didn’t have proper embedding. Which was true, if I was to meet their specific requirements (and then be able to order copies of the book).

VISTA Woes… Again

With folks on my team (email list) who do this sort of thing every day, telling me I did it totally right, I took a bold sideways move. I installed the InDesign software on my old WindowsXP laptop which has been threatening to quit working for a year and a half.

I made the PDF according to the instructions I’d been following for 3 days on my VISTA machine. And I hate to say it, but it fully embedded my font the first time.

Apparently VISTA could/would not do what I told it to do, even when I ran the program “as administrator.” Even though the dialog boxes I had worked in, looked identical to those in Windows2000 where an internet tutorial said they would work properly.

Good News/Bad News

So the saving of the PDF properly is the good new piece of news. I was able to upload the inside of the book as specified. I uploaded a front and back cover. I clicked “Save and Finish.”

And then something happened and the site I’m working with for printing (lulu.com) would time out/freeze before saying I had “finished.” So I waited. For hours. No response, never a “finished” message.

I tried it with more than one browser, more than one operating system, two different computers. Still a time out.

So Saturday night I had Brian watch me and he could figure out nothing I did that would be wrong. And he found a “live support chat” link on the site. I mean, at 11:30pm on a Saturday. And we clicked, and I had a live chat with someone who confirmed I was on the right track but something was not working. So I now have a tracking number for the unusual website response.

They will contact me probably by Tuesday with a technician letting me know what is up there. So for now I can go forward on other things. Brian and I have our anniversary on Sunday, which is also his mother’s birthday, so we will go visit her and some of the family out of town for the day.

The Ones We Love

Brian and I had dinner together and a concert, on Saturday, for our time alone together. His family is pleasant company, and we will play music and chat and knit with them on our actual anniversary. I will enjoy the change of pace, will work in the car and relax when we are there. I usually work on Sundays so I will plug away on things when it is reasonable, and enjoy family when that is the focus.

Pair #163 and Hat Knitting

For the record, I have been knitting. I just bound off my 163rd pair of socks since Spring 2001. I’m also working very slowly on my chevron lace hat. It is ridiculously simple if you are a lace knitter, a 10-stitch, 4-row pattern where every other row is “knit all stitches.”

There are only 6 repeats, a total of 24 rounds with about 100 stitches per round. Yet I’m not much of a lace knitter and it is easy for me to mess up if I try to knit it while with other people. I am eager to wear the hat but I’m in the middle of repeat #5 and have a hiccup from a previous row to fix. That one is waiting for a quiet time with good lighting.

I guess I should be working on a pair for Brian if it’s our anniversary, huh? I do have a pair or two started for him, waiting for me to pay attention to a turned heel or some thing of that sort. Maybe I need to pay attention again, huh?

Oh, the photo? I spent several hours Saturday knitting and doing my best to mellow out with Kristi, mom of these two incredible almost-two-year-old boys. This photo was taken in May at East Lansing Art Fair, it’s my most recent photo of them even though I saw them when we sang at JazzFest in August.

The photo isn’t really much about this post other than seeing Kristi, though the boys are expert at crawling… quickly, not slowly!

Running in Circles

What a crazy time it is to start the school year. I do not have children and do not teach in a school classroom, but it still impacts my life. One night a week, I teach community ed Computer classes, but it seems other things in my life also revolve around the seasons, starting in autumn.

I have been doing without sleep trying to catch up on a backlog of computer/desk work. I’m still working on things I thought I’d finish long ago. Time to be living in the present! At least I’m never bored.

Change, and more Change

So much in my life is changing right now. As they say, there is nothing certain in life except change. I discontinued the very-very-beginner computer class, which I’ve been teaching since probably 1993 in one or more locations. It is puzzling to me how hard it was to let go of that.

I have continued with the “exploration” class which reviews basics and then proceeds forward, depending on the interests of the actual students that term. I punt a lot and go where their questions lead, and it works very well. I have sixteen students in that night class, and they take turns thanking me as they leave at the end of the night, waiting in line to say goodbye. I love it.

In Praise of Care

And I have found a wonderful new doctor. My health was very rough last year and I felt I had almost no support. Now I have a new allergist who turned things around for me early this year, and now a new GP.

May I sing the praises of caring health professionals? We hear so many complaints, and I have complained a bit myself, but I can make a list of healthcare people over the years who have changed my life and who have truly loved me with their actions. It is good to feel I’m in that situation again. I know it’s not a bed of roses in that field sometimes, and I really appreciate the caring folks I’ve had the joy to work with.

Don’t Faint

Also, the big news: I am no longer working for my beloved Foster Community Center. This is where I started teaching computers and then got into teaching knitting. I ran my CityKidz Knit! program there for I think six years.

They still love me, and I love them, but between extra paperwork to be re-hired again (I have been a temporary employee, rehired every year since 1993 or 1994), and other considerations, I decided now was the right time to bow out gently.

The yarns still at Foster center will be available to all the kids I’ve knit with thus far, my boss will take them into my old room and let them stock up on yarn and needles and bags. And my program that I’ve had at Rae’s Yarn Boutique this summer will continue at that location.

Sniff… Some Things Say Goodbye

I moved out of my classroom today, with the assistance of one of my knitters and two of her family members. Also I had three kids from CityKidz last spring, who came to collect yarn and needles in bags so they can knit on their own. I have photos of my last day at Foster, and stories to tell but it has been an exhausting day. I need to delay that for now. No photos…hence the title of this post.

…and Some Surprising Things Return

And speaking of change… I started my Friday back at a location where I used to do computer consulting (in 1999, for Y2K). I’ve discontinued my computer consulting (custom databases, corporate training and web design) for at least 4 years now. However, I designed a complex system in Microsoft Access 9 years ago, for them to run their business. It contains dozens of tables, forms and reports. Parts of the system have become corrupt overnight, but the data is still there safe and sound (sigh of relief here).

So I get a call out of the blue, for help. The good part is that I’m back temporarily working with people I really like and haven’t seen much in the last few years. The harder part is to make sure they are ready to go for their deadline October 1.

Whew. It is a little like going to Mexico years after your last Spanish class.`You know how to do it, but you need to think as you proceed for a while. I fixed the first big part but will spend some more time this week getting that healed and happy. Healthcare for the computer, I guess.

Color, Color, Color!

In ColorJoy news, Lansing has turned red and yellow and orange on the edges this week. I noticed my first electric-red tree on Thursday (across from Sansu sushi restaurant on Hagadorn in E. Lansing). Now color is everywhere. It’s still mostly green, but the colors really pop at this early part of the season. Lovely.

…and Eternal Hope on the Part of my Tomato Plants

I have maybe 2 dozen green tomatoes in the three pots on the back step. This happens every year. I have literally picked 3 tomatoes all year, and now one plant has 9 fruits at one time! They sort of crack me up, they are so optimistic! I keep watering them and will do my best to help them along while it is feasible.

Photos tomorrow… I have so many, but no time to develop them properly for the website.

Here is another photo from the gathering at my mother’s house. She iced a yellow cake with sour cream (this is influenced from her Norwegian heritage) and then decorated it with fresh fruit.

I am told by family that Norwegians like to decorate food as it is presented on the table. A smorgasbord might contain bowls of potatoes or something, with cherry tomato halves and green peas assembled in some artful arrangement to make it prettier.

It was such an artform that the birthday girl did not at first want to cut into the cake. In the end, she was glad she had done it.

(For the record, the soft-turquoise tablecloth here is closer to the real color than the photo I posted a few days back.) 

1. First things first. I guess I need to knit more garments, you guys are wonderful. I have not had this many comments in a long while. Loving every word, thank you.
I think I do look happy in that photo, which is super cool since I seem to have many moods since the weather turned cold. It’s really great to finish something and have it work out that well.

Now the sad part. I heard on Tuesday about the deaths of two acquaintances. One day, two people. Ugh. But I will celebrate each briefly. And post photos of growing things. My tomato plants are optimists, making flowers like crazy as the weather turns chilly. I love that about tomatoes, they seem to do it every year. Grow, fruits, grow!

Here is my small attempt at honoring two people who worked and didn’t complain. Good folks who are gone now, sigh:

2. Jean Lutz was someone I met through the Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild. She volunteered with my CityKidz Knit! program at Foster Community Center the first two summers, along with Luann C.

I could not have made CityKidz happen without them. I had a LOT of kids and needed as many helpers as I could get, and they worked without complaint.

I remember we would get yarn donated in tangled messes, and then the kids would tangle it more. Jean would take that yarn home and untangle it, rewinding it by hand into center-pull balls for the kids. They thought those balls were just magical, with the yarn coming out of the middle. I thought *she* was magical for doing all that work!

Jean also volunteered at Potter Park Zoo. I know she took animals to the schools for them. I’m sure they will miss her very much over there. Good folks are worth celebrating, you know? Thanks to Jean for the work she did for me personally, and for the kids of Lansing in general.

3. Phil Wintermute was a musician in Lansing. He worked at Elderly Instruments and recorded an album under Earthwork Music’s label. I met him at his CD release party a handful of years ago, though Brian knew him before that.

His album’s name was “A Handful of Dirt.” As a happy city girl, it took me a while to understand why someone would name anything like that!

In the end, I heard the song of the same name and realized that it was about the holiness of growing things. “There is nothing so sacred as a handful of dirt” is how his lyric went.

I would always ask Phil how his garden was. We shared a love of Swiss Chard, among other things.

He was one of the most grounded, peaceful people I knew. You know, there are some people I just want to stand next to, so I can sort of get more peaceful from their vibes. Phil was one of those people.

I just wrote about Phil in the wee hours this Monday when talking about the fun at Dagwoods. I linked to his MySpace page where you can still listen to some of his songs from that album.

Phil was one half of the band “Scratch and Sniff.” It was two guys with gray hair playing mostly old time music. The other guy is Paul. The joke was: Who is Scratch and who is Sniff? The answer? Phil was “and,” and Paul was “Scratch, Sniff.” That still cracks me up. For those who knew them, it sort of fit and neither minded the joke. Here is a photo of Scratch and Sniff, Phil on left and Paul at right. I took this at Rendezvous on the Grand while they were on stage.

Here is a photo I took at Dagwoods when our friend Aki was visiting in August. The blur at left is Phil dancing with someone who I do not know. On stage is Aki at center photo and Brian at right.

4. Now the fourth thing, the hopeful thing. Kitty Donahoe, singer/songwriter once from Lansing, now from Ann Arbor, played her song “There are No Words” at the Pentagon today. The occasion was the dedication of the 9/11 memorial there. She was accompanied by two other Michigan musicians.

She won an Emmy for this song in 2002. If you want to see a web page with a video of her singing the song solo with her guitar, you can click here.

If you would like to hear an interview with Kitty, aired on WJR Detroit today while Kitty was still on the Pentagon grounds, you can go here:

http://wjr.com/Article.asp?id=883083&spid=6552

I always used to say that Kitty had the most beautiful voice in Lansing. I only stopped saying that when she moved away.

And not only is her voice beautiful, but she has this natural beauty that makes me sometimes stare at her just a little too long. She’s glowingly pretty in a relaxed, Irish sort of way, and she moves beautifully. I think sometimes she wonders why I’m looking at her! I’m an artist; I don’t paint or I might like to paint her.

But that is merely skin deep, and she’s best known as a powerful songwriter, wonderful singer and performer. It is great to see that she is being honored for that, even if the occasion might be a sad one. She found words somehow, and her song has helped a lot of folks.

—
Now, turn your focus to these lovely tomato plants who are trying to make some fruit in spite of a chill. Poor plants, they really love hot sun and now the furnace runs in the mornings.

Maybe I will bring one plant inside again this year when the frost arrives. One time I got red tomatoes in November. That was wonderful! Talk about hopefulness. We all need a little of that sometimes!

It is Tuesday again. This is a good day of the week, in my life. Tuesday nights I can go to Dagwoods (with Brian, and often with Rae) for the open mic which is hosted by Jen Sygit.

Dagwoods is an institution in Lansing, it was started in the 1940’s. This was a time when East Lansing was a dry town, so bars just outside the East Lansing City Limits did well. Somewhere in the early 1970s, they changed all that (maybe late 60s) and the places which had thrived had a rough time. Dagwoods was one of those places.

Luckily for us, it looks about the way it did when my father went there in the dry days of East Lansing. It is a tiny, crowded place, but full of great folks. The bartender is a friend, who once worked with Brian. The musicians and customers are also friends/acquaintances.

Last time we went, I had a chance to chat with Jeremy Herliczek, photographer for the NOISE newspaper. I met him when the paper sent him to my house years ago. He was to take photos when they ran an article on me and my socknitting. We talked and laughed much longer than expected, we had such fun.

Jeremy owns a blockprint I created for a Working Women Artists group show. He walked into my house and saw another from the same series on my wall, saying “I have that print, too.” I was honored. It was wonderful to see him again at Dagwoods. There is always someone I’m glad I ran into, at the Open Mic night.

It’s an excellent Open Mic. There are so many good local musicians who love Jen, that they turn out in force. It can be a roll call of Lansing talent on a busy night. I have seen Mike Ross (of Scarlet Runner Stringband), Phil Wintemute, Paul Bennett (of Scratch ‘n Sniff), the Flatbellys, Andy Wilson (of Steppin’ in It), Susan Fawcett, Tamineh Gueramy, Luke Winslow-King, Chris Dorman, Cindy Lehmkuhle and more. Every night is a different mix but it stays a quality show.

I love the whole thing. I don’t drink at all, am not a bar sort of grrl, but this is an East Side landmark with a scene I adore.

I’ve never been to Dagwoods on a night other than Tuesday. I am sure each time of the week has its own regulars and its own flavor. Tuesday nights? it’s a young, creative, funky sort of crowd. I don’t fit that description but these are my friends so I belong anyway.

Brian took a few photos of Rae and I knitting together. Rae doesn’t perform but Brian and I usually do… this was while waiting our turn. I had somehow brought my purse without any knitting in it at all. Rae had emergency yarn in her car. I had needles. I started a pair of wristwarmers in cobalt blue Ella Rae classic worsted weight wool. They might come in handy very soon!

Photos: The Flatbellys minus one, plus my Brian (peeking through from the back); me knitting with Raein a relatively quiet moment.