IS #19: Keep Your Head Up

My apologies for the radio silence this week... I never know quite what to say after national tragedies like the bombing at the Boston marathon. Rambling on about pretty yarn becomes unimportant and I feel that the important things are better said aloud to the people who need to hear them, and a lot of the rest of it is just speculating noise that doesn't do anybody much good. I tend to just silently worry and wait and observe how things play out. Many of my good friends were told to stay indoors and multiple towns were in lockdown throughout the day while officials searched for the suspected bomber, and that's a scary thought. As is how well-adjusted the 19-year-old seemed to his friends, neighbors, and classmates-- and how well-adjusted he obviously wasn't, which is both scary and sad. However, he's now been found and hopefully that fact allows Boston to sleep more easily at night and brings whatever peace can be brought to the people directly suffering from his selfish and inexplicable acts.

If you'd like to donate to The One Fund to help (in some small way) the victims of the event, you can do so here. If you'd like to contribute an 8x8 inch knit or crochet square to a 'love blanket' for a family member of one of the victims, you can find details about it here.

I'd also like to share Andy Grammer's popular single "Keep Your Head Up", which feels appropriate:

I challenge you to not feel better whilst belting out that song. Get the stress out, let the happy in, keep your head up. I'm just a little bit obsessed with his album right now... and by a little bit I mean I've listened to it on loop for a full week. His songs are upbeat but complex, his lyrics are clever and meaningful, and I love his rhythm and voice. Apparently, you can grow up but never quite grow out of becoming a total fangirl over sweet-hearted fellas with guitars (if you're me, at least... how my Fiasco is not a musician I will never understand because I'm a sucker for 'em). This song is my absolute favorite:

"When this world starts getting hard, will you rise above it, rise above it?" Yep.

(By the way, "the pocket" refers to a band that is playing together just right, all the members are hitting their notes just so and it's all feeling really good, that's when they're "in the pocket". It's not (only?) a vaguely sexual euphemism as I'd originally thought...)

Anyhow, that's my attempt to spread a little sunshine and happiness around, if you're feeling like you need a pick-me-up I recommend giving his album a listen. What's been inspiring you lately, in your knitting or otherwise?