When your subcultural references bypass your reality
strange brews are distilled…
Case in point.
Myself and several other thousand people are knitting projects in something called the Ravelympics, my event being WIP Wrestling. This duel is perfect for me and the sample you see above which is under a deadline. With the lovely little push the group is giving me, it might even get done.
I knit almost 7″ on it yesterday and by the time you read this, maybe 2 more. The speed knitting is being done in the glare of the big screen, the Peacock’s global broadcast of Beijing: the swimmer’s the biker’s the vollyball kidz. They’re all egging me on without even knowing, sharing their spark by proxy as I mentally jump into their spray [Phelps!]
My alter-ego was lucky enough to meet a real live contender last week, one Larry Langowski, a Chicago fellow with dual citizenship. He was getting ready to jet Beijing and be part of Team Mexico as a world class Wrestler.
For some reason, I could not resist telling Larry and Larry’s Mom about the knitting olympics! All of a sudden I was gushing and rattling off all the glory details about my Team! Exciting! A fine Thing!
In about 4 seconds their brows met in a HUH? Vee over their nose and their eyes went slowly blank. This is the part where someone is so very hypmotized by whatever you’re saying that they can’t hear you. Anymore. All they can do is nod their head slightly, but of course, in the affirmative, but they Can’t Hear You!
And did I catch these clues and zippit?
No Way!
I said something like, “It’s really cool, I can’t wait, it’s so excitiing!”
And by gawd, it is! If you like, you can catch Larry wrestling Men’s Freestyle 120 kg on August 21…
Today’s Symbols from l. to r. :
Mei = beautiful, pretty; Ji = lucky, auspicious, propitious
I know exactly what you mean! I was explaining it to my co-worker and all he could say was “who does the judging?” Non-knitters just don’t get it at all! But, like you, that certainly doesn’t stop me from pulling out my project and showing them what I’m up to! Ah, yes, it’s an affliction, this knitting thing! Let me know when the 12-step program is in place!
Oh, I’m getting those same looks at the office. I think I stunned my mother when she called me Friday night and I told her I couldn’t talk because I just had to prepare for knitting olympics. I even skipped a party to knit on my sweater vest. I probably need that 12-step program too.
I haven’t really talked about knitting in connection with the Olympics this time around, but that is mostly because I’m too busy watching and knitting to talk at all.
It’s probably just as well that I haven’t met any Olympic athletes (or pretty much anyone famous). I’d just go gah, gah and look like an idiot… or worse, drool.
Ah, if it truly is an affliction…I don’t want to be cured.