Do Your Research

I saw this in my 1440 Daily Digest this morning...

Need To Know Shooting at Florida State At least two people were killed and six others wounded at Florida State University's Tallahassee campus yesterday after a student—identified as the son of a sheriff’s deputy—opened fire near the student union. The two people killed in the attack were not students. Police are still investigating the shooter's motive.    Officials identified the suspect as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a member of the sheriff's office's youth advisory council, whose mother is a Leon County sheriff’s deputy (see background). He was apprehended after being shot by law enforcement and is hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries as of this writing. The suspect was carrying a shotgun and a handgun, the latter of which was purchased by his mother for personal use. University officials have canceled all classes and campus activities through the weekend.    The shooting is the second to occur at FSU since 2014, when a 31-year-old man shot and wounded three people—two students and a library employee—at a university library. He was later shot and killed by police.

Here's what I found after TWO Google searches: each shooter's race

Here's what this snippet boils down to in my mind:

     A BLACK man, in 2014, shot and WOUNDED three people. 

          He was shot and KILLED by police.

     A WHITE man, in 2025, shot and KILLED two people. 

          He was shot by law enforcement and has NON-LIFE-THREATENING injuries.

Just two Google searches. If more people would just look one step further than what's reported, they'd see more truth. They'd start putting pieces of the puzzle together. Take the time to look up what you hear or see. Get more to the picture.

Felting

So... It's going to be another long four years, and I need some levity (especially if TikTok will actually go away). I also would like something else I can do as I listen to audio books.

I read this gem by Michiko Aoyama, and I was introduced to something called "felting."

 What You Are Looking for Is in the Library

Thanks to a friend, I had $15 to spend on Amazon, so I spent just six more dollars and bought three kits.

This is my first one:

And here are some process photos:

I did the body first, then the feet, then the nose, and then the arms. He looked like a corn cob!

Here he reminded me of a character from the "Troll" movies...

Two weekends later...

I still want to do his hat a bit more - I don't want to connect it to itself at the end, although I think that would be the easiest. I want to make it stiffer by stabbing it more with that odd needle, but I also wanted it "finished" enough to show friends what I've done. (It's just not quite finished...)

He's very fuzzy - I've learned that's because I'm not as patient as I could be. I could keep working on that fuzz. For my first project, I think the fuzziness will give it away that it's my first. Fine by me!! The nose is the most solid - I really spent a lot of time on that one. And the size of the nose helped me figure out the size of the beard and hat.

I also tried something the directions didn't mention. I used a very thin wire (folded on itself a few times) in the rim of the hat. I'd been watching some felting videos, and the wire is supposed to give it more stability. I didn't know how I was going to attach the hat, and using the wire helped me shape it to his head before attaching.

What amazes me is how the wool becomes felt, and how you can stick felt to felt without adhesives. Putting the feet on was one thing, as I used more yellow wool on top of the feet to secure them in. Putting the hands on the arms was quite another. I feel like I can make those hands (or gloves?) a bit smaller by working even more on that part - or by adding more yellow wool? He's kind of skinny, so I could add more yellow wool around him, but I don't have any more. I think I made him taller than he was supposed to be (according to the photo), but - including his hat - he is 7 1/4 inches tall. The package says 7.5", so that makes me smile.

I'm also happy it helped me get off my phone, and I'm looking forward to trying a different one!

Americanah

 ...by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I'm not going to write about the book. That would do it an injustice. I just want to save these two pages, because they're so... right.

Calling It Out

I was reading a book...

I shared this tweet...

Someone else (whom I usually admire) retweeted it with this comment...

He "required" of another, a judgement of the contraction "to've."

I called him out for it - without bringing up that he's a white man asking judgement from another white man on a black woman's writing.

After this tweet, the man being asked never responded, and the man asking "liked" the tweet, even if he didn't apologize. He saw it. He may have reflected. It was a small moment that felt like a win to me.

"Klan-Loving Country"

Chelseitsme

It's 6:21 am on my first Saturday of Thanksgiving Break. On my Twitter feed, amongst news of the Chicago Bulls, a principal dressing up as a TikTok sumo guy, and people enjoying their walks with their dog, is a lot of disappointment in the American justice system.

https://twitter.com/dave__whiteside/status/1461780401479950352

Oh, I can imagine it. He would be dead. A white person would've killed him.

Others (other white people) might not think that. This is one of the myriad problems. 

I, for one, can walk away from the news. I am white. This is not an everyday problem for me, my family, 95% of my friends. I can shut down social media. I can talk with all my friends and family, and the names of those murdered won't enter into our discussions.

Every time we hear of another white man getting away with murdering a black person, I realize more and more... this system we've got here in America is DESIGNED to be this way. It's designed to protect those of my skin color, so that they may STAY IN POWER. 

This is Chelsea Hart. She is blunt. She swears. She's a white woman who stands up for the underprivileged. Here is her take on the acquittal.

At the end, she calls the U.S. a "Klan-loving country." I'm beginning to see it.

I wish white people in this country knew who each of these people were - and how they died. And then I wish the white men in power would use their power to STOP it. and to execute justice when it does still happen. Here are some of the ways black women have been killed - by the police. And young white men can hear about it and feel as if they are invincible. They are above the law. Are those in power "Klan-loving?" Their children learn from their model.

Eric Garner

Pearlie Golden

Michelle Cusseaux

Michael Brown

Tanisha Anderson

Natasha McKenna

Tamir Rice

Mya Hall

Alexia Christian

Walter Scott

Ralkina Jones

Freddie Gray

India Kager

Kisha Michael

Alton Sterling

Korryn Gaines

Deborah Danner

Philando Castile

Michelle Shirley

Charleena Lyles

Stephon Clark

Decynthia Clements

Pamela Turner

George Floyd

Atatiana Jefferson

Breonna Taylor

And 

Lies

I'm so tired.

I'm a privileged white woman, and if I'm tired, I can't imagine how tired others must be.

I'm tired of the lies. The distractions. The statements made that are opposite what those same people have stated before. The anger and hate spewed towards entire groups of people.

I try to ask my parents to not say "The Democrats are..." or "They say..." Who? Which ones in particular? Where are you getting this information? Have you looked it up to see what it's all about? Did you read past the headline? Did you try another channel? And if I have to encourage my own parents to do this, I can't imagine the numerous other people who are believing what some are telling them.

Some like these...

"Lunatics."

"Anti-white."

And he doesn't even know Critical Race Theory is only being taught in some college classes. He may not even know what it IS.

Here's what he said (this time) that makes me want to puke.

I'm not supposed to take this personally. Yet this is one more reason educators feel demoralized. An entire group of people is angry at schools - again - this time over something that's NOT EVEN HAPPENING.

By the way, before anyone even thinks of putting cameras in the classrooms, ask all the parents that were in the room when we were learning virtually. What did they hear that would be so damning? And then, after you hear crickets... put soap in the bathrooms, fix the cracking floors, fix the leaky ceilings, get rid of the rats, buy some textbooks and maybe even devices for so many schools across the country in which we live. Once that money is used, maybe make smaller class sizes by making more classrooms and hiring more teachers. If you can find them.

Seriously. Has anyone talked to educators about this???!!!

Here is the myth of the leftist indoctrinating teacher, by the way. A solid piece that has been pinned to my Twitter profile since I found it on June 24. If you can listen to that person's opinion above, then you can read this teacher's opinion (and FACTS) in this article.

Impeachment Proceedings

Shown on February 9, 2021, at the start of the Impeachment proceedings.