Auction! (for the AIDS Walk)

First things first:
This auction is to benefit the Minnesota AIDS Project. All funds raised will go to MAP. The item and the time, effort and materials that went into creating it, as well as any shipping and handling necessary to deliver it to the winner are a donation on my part. Before you bid, please read the small list o' rules and details following the good bit.

The good bit:
This handbag was hand-knit by yours truly. It was worked in two yarns simultaneously. The more visible of the two is a recycled sari silk yarn from Nepal. You see, when those gorgeous saris are woven in India, a leftover off the process are "mill ends"--excess, uneven lengths of silk thread cut from each end of the sari. An enterprising group of women in Nepal have gathered these mill-ends and spin them into yarn, which they then sell online through several distributors. Due to the random nature of the mill-ends, each skein is completely unique and displays within itself a wide range of brilliant, jewel-like colors. And it's SILK.

The base yarn, which is less visible and gives the fabric a uniform density the sari silk cannot achieve on its own is a variegated chenille in a print that was discontinued several years ago. The combination of the naturally unique silk yarn and the rare chenille make this handbag one of a kind.


Here we have a frontal view of the bag. Despite taking about a hundred photos in preparation for this post, I didn't have a single one that really did justice to the richness of the colors in the silk.


The bag with a couple of common items to give a nice idea of its size.


Side view, with a standard paperback inside. There was still plenty of room left in there for a wallet, cell phone and keys, too.

The details:
I'm not eBay. I thought about trying to keep track of "maximum bids"...for about half a second. So, think of this like a live auction, where one person shouts out a bid and the next one goes a little higher, and so on until time's up or there's only one bidder left standing.

We'll start at five dollars. If you have a bid or a question, email it to me. Use the words "blog" and/or "auction" in the subject line to speed it to my notice. I will be putting up an auction tracker on my sidebar, and I will update it as often as I can. Bidding will close at 6:00 p.m. CDT Sunday May 7. I will be watching my email like a hawk from 4:00 that day and updating the auction tracker immediately upon receiving any bids.

If some satisfactory means of making a personal (read: free) delivery to the winner can't be arranged, I will ship to anywhere in the US or Canada at no extra charge. The winner will pay for the item by making a donation in the amount of the final bid on my AIDS Walk page. That way we both know the right amount has gone to the right place. :)

And remember--Mother's Day is coming up! Wouldn't Mom love a silk purse? Of course she would.

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Saturday Catblogging

For those of you rendered abject by this afternoon's humiliating loss to Detroit, I present this Moment of Cuteness.


Jonah? Who's that?


P.S. If you haven't already, please check out the "Dread Pirates Walking" post!

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Recap

So I started a new job on the 10th, and I've been busy with things other than baseball lately. Things like the latest novel in the Dresden Files and the planting of the garden and the playing with the newly-healthy Pooie and the enjoying of the warm weather and the making of the pretty things. For more on the pretty things, please see the post "Dread Pirates Walking".

On the Twins front, they took two of three from the Royals after getting their asses kicked to Kansas City from and by Chicago. At least they saved on airfare, right?

The team average is sitting at a modest .262 (9th in the league), OPS at .710 (11th), home runs at 20 (12th), runs at 96 (also 12th), extra-base hits at 48 (dead last) and...oh, hell. Let's just cut to the chase. The only thing the Twins batters are good at is stealing bases (15, 4th; steal rate 83.3%, 2nd).

On the pitching side, the team ERA has climbed all the way up to 5.57 (11th in the league). Ooo, look, we're under 6.00. O frabjuous day! (Sigh.) Shall I just skip to the good bit again? I shall. The Twins staff has given up fewer walks than any other and is third in the AL in fewest batters hit by pitches. (Hey, I'm trying. It would help if they gave me something to work with.)

But wait...what's this?

The Twins lead the league in fielding percentage! Hot damn! We can't pitch or hit that ball, but we sure can catch it! Yippee. That'll get us through the season.

They start a series against the Detroit Tigers (who are, you may recall, rather more formidable than KC) tonight in just a little while. If Radke can keep the ball in the park and the boys can remember that the big stick is supposed to make contact with the ball and not wave fruitlessly in its general direction, we've got a shot.

But I've laid in some extra whiskey, just in case.

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Postscript, 3rd inning:
I did not lay in enough whiskey.

Postscript, 8th inning:
There isn't enough whiskey in all of Hennepin County.

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Dread Pirates Walking

It's that time of year again! The time when pirates drag their sorry, scurvy asses up off the galley floor and march around Minnehaha Falls.

Yes, that's right, the Pirates of the Bloodwake are doing the Minnesota AIDSWalk again, on May 21. TBL will be missing a game against Milwaukee, which means her beloved Corey Koskie may very well be playing, to participate.

And we need money. Your money, actually.

The AIDSWalk benefits the Minnesota AIDS Project, which provides HIV prevention education along with services and advocacy for HIV-positive Minnesotans. More than 5,000 Minnesotans are known to be living with HIV and an estimated 2,500 more are unaware they are infected with the virus, so that's pretty darn important stuff. And it costs money, which is (appropriately enough) what the Walk raises.

If you can spare a little money for this worthy cause, please do. You can donate online at my AIDSWalk page or sponsor the pirate of your choice at the Bloodwake Pirates AIDSWalk page. All contributions are tax-deductible.

Also, please consider attending these
Exciting, Swashbuckling Events
(all proceeds will benefit the Minnesota AIDS Walk)

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Bake Sale Fundraiser

Buy goodies baked by the Ladies of Tortuga! Drink coffee! Get a lasting souvenir by getting Your Picture With Pirates ($2 minimum donation if you bring your own camera, $5 if you require the services of the Piratical Polaroid)! Remember that charitable goodies have no calories! It's true!

Sunday, May 7th
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
outside the establishment of our generous allies
Magers and Quinn Booksellers
3038 Hennepin Ave S
Minneapolis
(and grab yourself some good reads while you're there)

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Jewelry Sale Fundraiser

Buy accessories handmade by the Ladies of Tortuga! Necklaces! Earrings! Bracelets! Anklets! Hair Sparklies! And a very limited supply of summer handbags knit by TBL herself.

Location, date and time TBD. Check this blog for updates.

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First-Ever Third Base Line Auction

Bid on a one-of-a-kind, hand-knit TBL creation! Feel good about supporting the AIDSWalk and the enterprising women in Nepal who spun the mill ends of silk saris into a unique and beautiful yarn! Thwart those you outbid!

The auction will commence this weekend and end next weekend. If it goes well, other items may be offered up. Possibly including Twins tickets! Ooo!

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Yardarm Yard Sale

Buy stuff we don't want anymore! Mock our fashion sense! Get Your Picture With Pirates (same deal as at the bake sale)!

Tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 20th. Check this blog for updates.

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Okay, now, here's the kicker. Our team goal is $250 per person. If we, as a group, raise twice that, we will walk the Walk in full pirate garb. Jolly Roger and all, folks. I expect we'd be on the news.

Want that to happen? Donate!

Thank you.

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With Fans Like These...

...who needs opponents?

You may recall that before the series against NY I mentioned how hordes of rude Bankee fans are usually good for a rant or three. Well, I was partially right. Seems that losing a series has a way of taming the Bankee rabble (but seriously, folks--that many people did not move to Minnesota from New York. What are these people thinking?!), so they were remarkably well-behaved. The hordes of rude fans were, alas...ours.

So, TBL presents a quick refresher course in fan etiquette:

Fan Etiquette 101: The "Big Three"

1. Sit in the seat for which you have a ticket. They are numbered for several reasons. Those reasons will be covered in Fan Etiquette 201: Acting Like A Civilized Human Being.

2. Booing is for umpires and visiting players who happen to be huge jerks. Exceptions may be made, on a case-by-case basis, for hometown team players who have publicly insulted the organization.

3. Drink and swear only in moderation. There are sober people and children near you. The former do not think you are as funny as you do, and the latter see enough bad behavior on TV, thanks.



I'd like to draw everyone's attention to rule #2, and remind them that having a 12-game hitting slump while trying to adjust to a change of role from outfielder to DH does not constitute "insulting the organization". It constitutes having a slump, which happens to everyone and which no one would particularly remark upon if it had occurred after a month or two of normal hitting performance. Yes, the timing sucks, but the poor man isn't doing it deliberately.

And being booed by his own team's "fans" is not helping.

[censored], you'd think we were Bankee fans. How 'bout a little Minnesota Nice ova' hea'?

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Clean Bill of Health

Well, we got the results of Pooie's post-treatment tests, and it's all good news. She's gained two and a half pounds since she came home from the hospital. Her hyperthyroidism and her heart murmur are both gone. She's off all her medications and her heart, liver and kidney readings are all smack in the middle of the normal range. As her doctor said: as far as her body is concerned, none of this ever happened. The recurrence rate after this treatment is less than one percent, and there is no impact on the patient's expected lifespan.


Look upon my perfection, mortals.

Once more, thanks to everyone out there for your good wishes and support, and to the staff at the VCA Animal Care Hospital in Richfield. Also a big, huge thanks to Dr. Ralph Weichselbaum, DVM, a veterinary radiation therapy specialist who has successfully treated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cats with this condition via non-invasive radioiodine therapy.

And to all you who are owned by cats (you know it's not the other way around!), just a reminder of some of the symptoms of feline hyperthyroidism, which usually strikes cats over 7: weight loss, hyperactivity, rough or thin coat, accelerated pulse, nervousness, hyperventilating or panting under stress. A thyroid level test is under $50. If you suspect your cat might, just might, have this condition, take them to the vet. It is curable. Not just treatable, but curable.

And isn't that a miracle?

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Twins v. A's Series Wrapup

Who are these people and what have they done with my Twins? And, more importantly, can they be persuaded to stay?

In this three-game series against the A's, the Twins hit .350/.400/1.010, scored 21 runs, hit six homers and six doubles, took 8 walks and got 35 hits. The pitching staff, meanwhile, picked up the pace a bit. Though a cumulative 4.33 ERA doesn't look so hot on this group of arms, it's a lot better than the 6.38 they posted against Cleveland. They gave up 13 earned runs including five homers while striking out 20.

I was at the opening night game, and if you missed it, please feel free to take a moment to whack yourself over the head with a nice thesaurus or a brick or something. What a game! What a rally! What a surprise!

TBL is a wee bit busy with her shiny new job at the moment, so you'll have to pardon the erratic posting. The goal at the moment is two posts a week. Three or more when things calm down a bit.

The Bankees are in town to start a three-game series tonight. I'll be attending tonight and Sunday. Those of you who have been with this blog (and its previous incarnation on Earthlink) for a while know that the Bankee series is always good for at least one rant about obnoxious NY fans, so stay tuned.

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