opinions plus some yarn
September 30, 2010
First - it is raining like heck here, which means that my hair is rebelling more than usual.
Second - I have been crocheting ...
... and got that cross stitch framed so that I can have all four seasons done and let my inner compulsive rest.
The pinky-red one in the bottom right isn't as pinky-red in real life.
Third - I have opinions.
I do. I have lots of them. And some of them are about politics. I think George W. Bush was a whistleass. Sarah Palin makes me want to cut my ears off every time she opens her mouth. I think McCain's blind ambition and impulsiveness is what cost him the presidency -- and I'm glad he didn't win it. I don't know that Obama will be the best president ever but think that he's a damn site better than what we had or could have had.
I also think that the way in which we run our government vis a vis campaigning is deeply flawed. I think that we should find the person who wants the power the least and make him/her president. How bad could it be, really? It's not like the president can get a whole lot done even when he wants to.
You probably disagree with me. Go for it. That is totally your right. That's one of the cornerstones of how democracy works.
I wrote a book that is mostly about knitting. In the 60,000 words in the book, 200ish are about my political opinion, which means that .003 percent of the book is about how I view the political landscape. And yet that seems to be a huge point of contention, not only on blogs but in the Amazon and Good Reads reviews as well.
And that's fine. You are more than welcome to not like my book. There are aspects of it I don't like either, like the fact that I misspelled the names of a couple of important knitters, included the almighty Zimmermann*. That I do feel shitty about and will correct it when the opportunity presents itself.
What gets under my skin, though, is the assertion that my opinions don't belong in my book about knitting. Should I not have included any opinions at all, like, say my dislike for acrylic yarns or fondness for the works of Terry Pratchett? Or am I just not allowed to talk about anything that might be controversial?
Again - you are more than welcome to disagree with me. Lots of people do. You are more than welcome to not like my book. Again, there are many in that club. You can throw it in the trash or set it on fire. Knock yourself out. But saying that the entire thing is about politics and/or I shouldn't be allowed to express an opinion you disagree with is a little disingenuous, no?
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* who called herself "the Opinionated Knitter," btw.
** I'd like a list of kosher topics, in that case. And for the record, like Chris Rock, I think anyone should be able to own a gun but bullets should cost $5000 each. I think the drinking age should be 16 and the driving age 21. I am pro-choice but want better sex ed and birth control access so that the choice won't come up nearly as often. I also prefer cats over dogs. I have no opinion about the designated hitter.