GOOD & BAD

/ janpriddyoregon

I should never have mentioned that very popular pop star. It led to frustrating exchanges until I took the post down. Today began with positive covid tests. I am not in the mood.

Ten handwoven wool shawls folded above. I have these ten and six others elsewhere and the ones I use: three blankets and an afghan made by seaming lengths together and the three shawls I use myself—one because it was flawed and (honestly) the other two I just grabbed because they were handy to use on a cold day and they became mine to keep.*

I made the mistake of mentioning on Facebook that I knew nothing about Taylor Swift other than the black gloves looked really nice with her white dress in the Grammy video. I was watching the video only because I wanted to see Tracy Chapman sing “Fast Car” and I was annoyed the video cut to other people, especially Swift. I wasn’t interested in Swift. None of her music stuck in my head, and I know I’ve heard her. How could I not? Now I have deliberately listened and research and know quite a bit about Swift who was raised to be a star, is worth $1.1 billion, has a massive carbon footprint from flying around the world, manages a well-trained but mediocre voice, promotes good causes (but nothing too controversial that might impact sales), and has no business trying to outshine Chapman. [Don’t comment to assure me that her presence in that video was not deliberate. Swift is nothing if not a skillful self-promoter. I give her enough credit that she’s always known precisely what she’s doing.]

So that’s how yesterday started on Facebook. Many people responded defending Swift. Two responded about Chapman—who was spectacular, btw. People who admire the famous or whose children do kept telling me all the good she does. (I am cynical about wealthy people, and the thing is, I like a lot of women singer-song writers. Joni Mitchell comes to mind, not to mention Janis Joplin, Laura Nero, Beyonce, and Tracy Chapman…) People love Swift. I get it. People love many things I don’t. That’s fair enough most of the time, but not today. I am too tired.

I will blame Covid.

In the mean time I was reminded of why I left Facebook for the past few years. I question my choice to reactivate my account.

So. I don’t feel terrible physically, but sick. Obviously sick. Neither of us has been ill in over four years.

Someone was coming to look at my weaving today. Cancelled.

A friend was coming to stay on Thursday night and we were both excited to have an evening of conversation. Cancelled.

I organized an event at our condo for this coming Saturday… no idea what will happen because I don’t have my notes with me and trusted too much to myself. So many good people relying on me and I do not feel well enough to be useful at all. And what use is a sick person at a “hot chocolate and tasties” event? I might not be infectious by then, but if I were everyone or anyone, I wouldn’t trust in that. Anyway, I will likely be asleep and eighty miles away.

Gary is already in bed. The virtual doctor from Montana urged rest, liquids, and protein. I was going to watch a film while resting on the couch, but no. I need to lie down.

The top two in this photo are from the same warp I finished most recently (warp is lengthwise yarns, three hundred of them; weft is the crosswise yarns, a couple thousand of those). The bottom two lengths are from other warps. Two others are in the gallery, one is finished on the loom, and I have about five inches of another started but not likely to be finished any time soon.*

So that’s the bad news, right? What is the good news? It’s a dragon year and that is my spirit animal, right? So good news? I could feel a lot worse. Please, fingers crossed I don’t feel worse.

*People always want to know these things: WHAT yarn I am using, HOW long does it take, WHY do I do it? They especially want to know how long it takes to make a shawl, and I kept track recently. I do not count the hours figuring out the colors, all that laying out and rearranging colors, lying awake imagining. That takes longest.

I work at my own rate and invest heavily in color. Full disclosure: Each shawl typically requires ten skeins of hand-painted Canadian merino wool. (Ten skeins of Koigu yarn @ $15/skein or combined with some hand-dyed handspun costing up to $80/skein. I like to use handspun with the Koigu for different color effects.) I completed more than four warps last year. I was hoping to do the same this year, and I was on track to complete this warp by the end of the month by working diligently and up to twelve hours a day. There are the days planning and then, before actual weaving I wind skeins and warp the loom, the weaving itself (at least couple of weeks for each piece), the hours spent finishing and washing the pieces when they come off the loom—a month to finish both length on a warp if I work diligently. I am rarely diligent.

Why? Because color, texture, pattern. Because the wool is lovely and soft. Because my work honors the handwork of others.

February 16, 1972. Speaking of Joni Mitchell (and not Taylor Swift performing in her underwear)? We were not speaking of those things, but I will. Gary and I saw Joni Mitchell in her first US performance of Blue more than fifty years ago. (Jackson Brown was her opening act and his first solo album came out later that year.) I remember her songs. I remember the stories she told about the songs. I remember her guitar and the piano and the look of the stage. I want to say only the front of the Paramount stage in Seattle was lit and maybe the heavy curtains were heavy red velvet, but I could not even guess at what Joni Mitchel was wearing that night because her performance was about music and about her stories. She was at the Grammys the other night too, sitting down and moving her cane as if it were some kind of magical instrument, as if muscle memory was trying to make that fancy stick play along.

Every few years and throughout her career Joni Mitchell reinvents herself because that’s what artists do.

28 thoughts on “GOOD & BAD”

  2. It is important to take that Paxlovid early. If you are hear order it and tell whomever in the coastal area that you give me permission to pick it up I will go get it for you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Feel better, Jan. I actually took down my pop star response to you after a day.

    Shutting down social media during illness–unless it’s a specific support group you feel really really comfortable with–is highly advisable. Best move during my TB year, and about to go offline for a couple months of chemo (prognosis is excellent–growth area too small for me to even give it a name, but we’re being agressive because of family history etc.)

    And it’s 2024.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. So sorry to hear that you are sick! Covid can be incredibly fatiguing, and it’s important to keep reminding yourself that it’s ok to allow yourself the necessary rest. The first time I had it I couldn’t barely stay awake for 10 days. The second time I got Covid same thing happened, only I didn’t get a positive test for 3 days. I had been very hard on myself about how fatigued I was when I didn’t know I had Covid again- and it was a good reminder to me to be kind to myself whenever I am ill. Get well soon!

    As far as social media, it’s good to manage it how it works for you, not for others. When you are a sensitive person that’s harder. I only rejoined this year because I moved to a new country and I hope to advertise to potential visitors. But the creepiness of it has creeped in at times. I envy people who have thick skins and can freely express themselves on social media, but maybe it’s not a poet’s medium!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thank you for your kind thoughts. I’d hoped we escape Covid after four years, but here it is.

      And as to social media, no one was unkind but it wore me out, and now, knowing I have Covid, I suppose that’s why I struggled. I left years ago because I felt I was continually putting out fires. No one was blazing. I am just tired.

      Like

      Reply

  6. Joni Mitchell is not only wonderful, but she is mesmerizing. It was a gift to hear and see her effectively reinventing herself once again and be both spellbound and engaged as it unfolded. Sending you and Gary lots of positive vibes for a short uneventful encounter with Covid and a complete and quick recovery. HUGS.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. happy valentines daze to all you out there—I suppose some things will have to be postponed a bit until the foggy dew clears—coffee, aspirin, comas, and Jamisons until then whenever then is that is—sure glad the covid pandemic is over-what a relief—whew—now if I could just get my ears to stop ringing-i know I took my brain off the hook—thanks to Mary Jo for the comforting soup, to Jon Stewart for resurrecting hope, and my valentine for being on the planet.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I feel worse today, but no fever at all. None Monday and still none today. No loss of smell. So far, so good. On the other hand my chest hurts, my nose is running, and it’s going to be a boring Valentine’s Day.

      Like

      Reply

  9. I hope you feel better soon. I’m confident that you are doing all the right things so hopefully it won’t last too long.

    As for Taylor Swift … well, I used to scream along with Janis Joplin, and I much prefer feathers in one’s hair and crazy wide bell bottoms to the stylized, airbrush look that (too) many celebrities opt for.

    Swift’s “influence” is what unnerves me. I feel I now have to pay attention to her because of politics, because she (supposedly) can influence her fans to vote for Biden or anyone of her choosing. But at least I don’t have to listen to her music. I still play Janis Joplin 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Janis was a force of nature. I saw her perform from no more than twenty feet away. She pulled Gary into a Big Brother concert. The great musicians often had hard lives and little business sense because they were far too busy making art to calculate and plan careers. One of my grandchildren is furious because Swift has failed to adequately support LGBTQ and other issues. But she is a smart business person promoting a small talent. I am told her music is taught in a college class someplace. This reminds me of the class taught at my school about the Grateful Dead when they might have studied Joni or Laura or even Janis.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Happy to oblige 🙂 Oh, I also wanted to chime in on the “20 questions” you get about your weaving. I have fielded similar questions about my work, with most people assuming that money is the primary reason why I knit or weave. That is, I want to sell my stuff. No, I do it because I love working with my hands. I love the feel of yarn and the colors as they work up. If people don’t understand that, they can just move along 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      • Yes, exactly. And I know they want it to take so much time that I am a fool for doing it. I know they want to hear that a shawl sold for $300 takes me months. No, it takes about 3 weeks from start to finish [if I don’t count the hours and days spent staring at colors and working them out] and costs me $150. I would have to be very stupid to be doing this to earn a living. Most of the hand spinners I love eventually stop selling when they realize how badly it pays them unless they are, like me, doing it for love. More fool me?

        We do it for love.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment