FC2Video

My wife is in the hospital, so we celebrated the new year there. We couldn't see the fireworks from Navy Pier, but we went to the lounge and enjoyed the winter wonderland created by the fog followed by snow. (This was shot in night mode, full color, D1 Resolution on a tripod.)

We were under a "freezing fog" warning, but it wasn't too foggy. Even so, this was a very nice morning at the Lake, and I thought I'd share its beauty and peace with you all. This video answers the question, "Why live in Chicago, with the corruption, the confiscatory tax rates, etc."

This video shows the finished doggie rug project, which incorporated several advanced techniques: I reversed back several times, and on the final row, I punched holes in the base of the sweatshirt hoodie and knit them in to the rug.

Sorry the video is so jerky, I was wearing gloves, and even so, my hands were bitterly cold. But I've not posted a "puppy love" video in a long time, and recent events were such that I really needed to today. Namely.. After a long and valiant battle through the celebration of Christ's birth, my darling wife (cafepress.com-slash-tesslist and 360.yahoo.com-slash-tesslist) went into the hospital yesterday And, as usual, someone chose then to come sniping at me. Earlier in the walk, God wore the masks of several passers by well though, and I'm so thankful. The dogs "mobbed" a man in a wheel chair, and I laughed and said, "Don't worry, they've never so much as snarled or snapped at anyone" and he replied, "Well, dogs tend to take on the personalities of their owners" (WOW, how wonderful is that?!) and then I encountered my friend Jim, who as always asked after me and my wife. The Lord provides... I just wish Satan would go on vacation from time to time too!

This humorous video was shot by a friend from the misty reaches of my past who will only be referred to "the Badger." - I always used to enjoy chopping wood, and was once good at it. But I'm a city boy now in the middle of my life, and the wood my brother suggested I chop was pin-oak. Now, anyone who's worked with it knows what a devilishly hard wood this is to work with! So, I had a bit of fun at the end of my attempt to shoot it, and my friend's attempt to record it for posterity (hilarity?) The lighting conditions were about as poor as my wood chopping, but this one was fun.

My mother somehow inherited her mother's childhood dresses. Here she is showing them to my wife and myself. They're easily 100 years old, perhaps as old as 110 or 120 years, depending on whether they were new for my grandmother or handmedowns.

A question I often get is how much material does it take to make a rug? In this video I show the scraps I'm going to use to make a trivet (hot pad) which came out about 8" around by 1/2" thick. I only used the multicolored green fabric, not the pants with the brown in them. In the second video (to be posted later today or tomorrow) I show the finished product. I've found that it takes ME about 25 pounds of discarded clothes to make a "normal" rug of 22" to 28" around, but this will vary by type of material, how thickly you cut the strips, how dedicated you are to using every possible inch of the original clothes, etc. (I'm pretty stubborn about using just about anything I can, even the seams. I love the "silk purse from a sow's ear" / recycling aspect of this craft.)

Early Dec 2007, this was our second "token" snow of the week, just a justing, it was light enough I decided to take my camera out to record the pups playing in it. This features: My papillon (butterfly) dogs Hilde and Killian romping in the snow A cyclist undeterred by the weather The iconic Red Line "L" passing by. This is winter in Chicago at its most gentle and romantic.

My dear friend Cheryl saw the blue jean rug in progress and knew I was planning on selling it, so she offered to buy it as an objet d'art for her country style home. I was honored she appreciated it, and even more so when she asked me to say a blessing over it for her and her husband Warren. The blessing we collectively agreed to is the "common benediction" or "Aaronic Blessing" from Numbers 6. I asked my dear wife Tess to scribe the words in the original Hebrew and in English, her handwriting is legible and her Hebrew far better than mine (her degree is in Biblical Languages, after all!) She assisted also in the filming of the video. I'm amazed the dogs didn't try to assist also.

Well, it was about as far away as CVS, and its a good thing I had to go somewhere soon afterwards, as they were putting in "speed humps" (insert joke here... Chicago's the only place I know which calls them this, but perhaps with our fast paced lifestyle and many universities, its apropos)

This is why I take the "L" when ever and where ever I can... If I drove much, I'd be looking at "Lewis Black" type bloop pressure levels. And parking is the worst... Chicago keeps finding more and more ways to declare areas no parking zones, such one at my corner for a bus which only runs after midnight... but heaven help you, if you park there over night, its at least 50 bucks to Da Mayuh's slush fund!

CVS is two blocks from my apartment... I can't leave the car there, but can I find a closer parking spot in Chicago's infamously hard to park Edgewater? Whether or not I can, enjoy the ride as I curmudgeonly carp about things

I like to say that toothbrush rugs are essentially making a silk purse from a sow's ear... here I prove it. I use two umbrellas to add on to a rug started from a shower curtain. In this particular video, I finish destroying an umbrella the winds off Lake Michigan at Chicago did a pretty good job on!

I like to say that toothbrush rugs are essentially making a silk purse from a sow's ear... here I prove it. I use two umbrellas to add on to a rug started from a shower curtain.

I like to say that toothbrush rugs are essentially making a silk purse from a sow's ear... here I prove it. I use two umbrellas to add on to a rug started from a shower curtain. In this final video of the series, I show using a strip from an umbrella to add on to a rug started from a shower curtain.

see others in series

One the best things about this craft is you can use it to make a "memory rug" using clothes which are no longer usable, but which have sentimental value. This is one I'm making from the clothes (including lingerie) my wife and I wore when dating and when newlyweds... its my largest in years, and IMHO my most artistically spectacula

One the best things about this craft is you can use it to make a "memory rug" using clothes which are no longer usable, but which have sentimental value. This is one I'm making from the clothes (including lingerie) my wife and I wore when dating and when newlyweds... its my largest in years, and IMHO my most artistically spectacula

One the best things about this craft is you can use it to make a "memory rug" using clothes which are no longer usable, but which have sentimental value. This is one I'm making from the clothes (including lingerie) my wife and I wore when dating and when newlyweds... its my largest in years, and IMHO my most artistically spectacular

It was suggested that some would like to see the person doing the tutorials. I don't know what my Ichabod Crane like visage adds to the pedagogical process, but why not. In these videos I show me working on a blue jean rug which is almost done and which I hope to sell, while discussing some of the aspects of the craft.

It was suggested that some would like to see the person doing the tutorials. I don't know what my Ichabod Crane like visage adds to the pedagogical process, but why not. In these videos I show me working on a blue jean rug which is almost done and which I hope to sell, while discussing some of the aspects of the craft.

It was suggested that some would like to see the person doing the tutorials. I don't know what my Ichabod Crane like visage adds to the pedagogical process, but why not. In these videos I show me working on a blue jean rug which is almost done and which I hope to sell, while discussing some of the aspects of the craft.

The return trip north, part 1, leaving Aldi's heading north on Broadway through Uptown to Edgewater ---------- "Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can't compromise their standards and can't manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse. Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor." - JON WINOKUR

This is the second segment of my trip south on Broadway through uptown to Aldi's just south of Wilson ---- "Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can't compromise their standards and can't manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse. Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor." - JON WINOKUR

Lame or brilliant- regardless, I put my camera on my dashboard while driving south on Broadway from Granville to Wilson and commented in a curmudgeonly way. (I love Chicago, I hate driving in it.) ---- Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can't compromise their standards and can't manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse. Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor. - JON WINOKUR

VIEW PART I FIRST! After seeing the blind man begging outside the store in part I, I was struck by the poignant juxtaposition of the Bell Ringers outside the door entry way. You hear them early in the video, but they aren't shown. The rest of the video is just a stroll north along Broadway from Glenlake to Granville, with the camera sitting in my shopping cart, so its a bit more steady than my usual hand held street vids

After getting off the Red Line at Thorndale to go grocery shopping, I saw that the street scene was especially poignant. I saw the poor fellow sitting outside the store in the mist, while I heard the bell ringers by the entry way.

This tutorial shows how to start a tooothbrush rug (or toothbrush handle rug, or rag rug...) using a braid. It takes you from the start through the first row and first corner. Look for more information on this great old craft at toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com