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October 04, 2004
queen of the black black
Ah, fall. Pumpkins are out and leaves are crunching underfoot, and certain (bald in places) little dogs are taking shorter walkies when there is a chill in the air. And of course contemplating outerwear. Its been on both of our minds. As a human, I am less reluctant to wear it as I am unable to shell out the cash it takes for the type of serious garments a Chicago winter requires. Which circumstance has led to much chattering of teeth, swearing of oaths, and fear of loss of digits or perhaps even an untimely demise from implosion due to the severest form of insipid and unrelenting hypothermia at bus stops and train stations from November until May, (with all of the above conditions, especially the swearing of oaths, being most severe between late December and early March). Fortunately for the author of this Knit A Log, one very kind and generous Benefactor has stepped up and rescued Indian Summer for us!
Because! Yesterday afternoon this Benefactor and this author were strolling in the local Mall, admiring expensive luxury goods with lustful consumer abandon, when I spotted it, a three quarter length bubblegum pink wool winter coat with rounded collar and big round shiny pink buttons! I sighed, I swooned, I suggested maybe I might look very sexy in this color? Because pink really is my color. But luckily, I was talked down from my pink reverie and into a sensible, almost ankle lengh, suitable for the grown up world, and yet not unsexy in its own way black overcoat. And before we knew it the black coat was in the bag, and thus some anxiety about the coming season was relieved! Hooray for chivalrous Benefactors! I kees you!!! I love you!!!
Anyway, I am convinced that now that I have the proper outerwear for the cold, which I have to say I look fabulous in it too, Indian Summer will be back with a vengeance until Christmas.
Oh, and while at the mall I saw knitted ponchos in great abundance, most of which are made have a certain funky handmade quality. While the part of me that desires instant gratification was almost fooled into shelling out for one of these, at the same time all I could think was the one that I will knit will be soo much nicer! I will make the Manos poncho!! I will!
And lest we should get too comfy in indulging our consumerist impulses, here is an inspirational quote from Chuck Palahniuk s Fight Club~
"Imagine," Tyler said, "stalking elk past department store windows and stinking racks of beautiful rotting dresses and tuxedos on hangers; you'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life, and you'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. Jack and the beanstalk, you'll climb up through the dripping forest canopy and the air will be so clean you'll see tiny figures pounding corn and laying strips of venison to dry in the empty car pool lane of an abandoned superhighway stretching eight-lanes-wide and August-hot for a thousand miles." ~Chapter 16
The Primitivist in me also likes this one, from the same book~
We wanted to blast the world free of history.... picture yourself planting radishes and seed potatoes on the fifteenth green of a forgotten golf course. You'll hunt elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center, and dig clams next to the skeleton of the Space Needle leaning at a forty-five degree angle. We'll paint the skyscrapers with huge totem faces and goblin tikis, and every evening what's left of mankind will retreat to empty zoos and lock itself in cages as protection against the bears and big cats and wolves that pace and watch us from outside the cage bars at night. ~Chapter 16
I want to work on painting the skyscrapers with faces and goblin tikis! I want to start now!
At night I will invite in all the bears to keep me warm.
Posted by at October 4, 2004 12:49 PM
Comments
A neoprimitivist Pink Palahniuk dream wrapped in long black. Present company excluded, most of us don't have a purity to revert to. I'm saying I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over and the insect is awake...
Posted by: Juan Jorges Jesus at October 4, 2004 04:21 PM
Sure, the bears will be happy to keep you warm...UNTIL THEY ARE READY TO EAT YOU FOR A TASTY SNACK! Primitivism sounds like a party, but it's the kind that has no indoor plumbing. To take liberties with a well-worn slogan, if I can't sit quietly in houses, I don't want to be part of your revolution. I'll just be over here with the sophisticates.
Posted by: Thomas at October 5, 2004 04:19 PM
Thomas~Its certainly true that Red Emma was no primitivist! Here is a little story about her. Once she worked as a seamstress in a factory. She went to her boss and told him that she made enough money to eat and pay rent, but really she would appreciate a teensy raise so she could buy a flower or an opera ticket once in awhile. He said no, so she quit! Right then and there! And really there is enough that we could all have flowers, opera tickets, and indoor plumbing, and not have to go camping. But this chasing after scarcity is madness and so some people like to think of starting over from scratch and I cant say as I blame them.
Anyway.
Posted by: pippypippy at October 6, 2004 08:56 AM
Juan Jorges~ maybe its just a 24 hour bug!
I hope so! Feel better! ~pippy
Posted by: pippypippy at October 6, 2004 08:58 AM