Monday, August 3, 2009

I am in so much trouble

So, anyone who has spent much time around me knows that I like to knit. Perhaps "like" isn't a strong enough word- since it occupies all of my non-working/non-writing time- but the point is that it doesn't take long to figure out that knitting is a major component of my life. This includes knitting, looking at yarn online (no LYS in these parts), spending time on ravelry, and listening to knitting podcasts.

Ranger Man isn't dumb- he understands this. He fully supports and indulges my yarn habit, knowing that (a) it makes me happy (b) it keeps me busy (and happier) when he's gone and (c) aren't there worse things that I could be doing?

So, back to the yarn activities- did I mention listening to knitting podcasts? Sometimes, I'll listen to them before bed. It's a good way to clear my head from whatever icky things might be in there that give me bad dreams and focus on one thing rather than racing thoughts that also keep me up. Thus I'm usually on the look out for new knitting podcasts to listen to that are relaxing (read: few verbal tics) enough to listen to before bedtime. Right before we left for Turkey, I heard about a new one: Electric Sheep. I was listening in bed while Ranger Man was reading a book, and it was so witty and funny that I kept laughing out loud. Note: This is seriously unusual for me, I almost never laugh out loud at movies, so to laugh *repeatedly* at podcast must have been strange. He wanted to know what I was listening, so I shoved an earbud in his ear mid-giggle.

This podcast is funny, witty, intelligent and not so knit-centric as to be completely exclusive. Ranger Man has spent enough time around me that he knows a bit of knitting terms and could pick right up and follow along, and soon he was also laughing (not so unusual- he's a much better laugher than I. In fact, he watched "Madagascar 2" on the plane ride home from Turkey and he was laughing so hard and loud that I just about died of embarrassment).

He enjoyed it so much that it's become a bit of a ritual. Now, when there's a new Electric Sheep podcast, we'll listen together before bed. This podcast talks a lot about guerilla knitting, and Ranger Man has decided to make this cause his own. We'll be around town somewhere and he will, out of the blue, say "you know those boat trailers in the parking lot at the Marina? They'd be great targets for guerilla knitting" or "that statue needs a scarf."

I emailed the podcaster and told her about this strange knitting phenomenon. This Big Bad Scary Ranger Man who is enjoying listening to her knitting podcast with his girlfriend and who is championing the cause of guerilla knitting. She got such a kick out of this that she talked about us on her next podcast. (I believe it starts at about the 32 minue mark, if you're not interested in the knitting content).

Here's the part where I get in trouble. Ranger Man's mom sent me an email with some pictures of a motorcycle covered in knitting, as a sort of joke. I chuckled slightly to myself, thinking "she has no idea what Pandora's box she's just opened," and replied with some other pictures of guerilla knitting, including the tank cozy and the phone box. Not only that, I told her, but your son (and my Ranger Man) has been quite the advocate of this type of knitting, and sent her the link to the podcast.

Now, I did this with good intentions- I think that the more involved she feels in his life (and of course, the more I am instrumental in that feeling), the less snarky she will be when I see her. What I didn't count on was her sharing this podcast with Ranger Man's mentor- i.e. the ORIGINAL big bad scary Ranger Man. oops. I totally emasculated Ranger Man this weekend and it was completely on accident. He is ssooo not happy.

Is it wrong that I think it's hilarious?

3 comments:

Rebecca said...

I think it's hilarious too! And I think it's really sweet that yall listen to the podcasts together :)

Rebecca said...

I'm in Huntsville, AL, which is in north Alabama. I would say I'm close to Georgia, but I guess close is a relative term.

Thanks so much for your encouraging post!

loqi said...

OMG, I *love* the tank cozy!

Nope, not wrong at all! There's nothing more hilarious than showing the softer side of the badass, eh? I do that to LT as much as possible. :-p