Monday, March 31, 2008

i adore rainy moondays!

the moon is in Aquarius
and the color of the day is lavender
my lavender sweatshirt is in the dirty clothes
so i wear a purple tank-top
and a
baby blue fleece,
by the melding of the two colors i can achieve a
lavender
of the spirit

" 'cause I'm a dancin' fool"...

tarantism:

a dancing mania or malady in medieval Europe

from Merriam Webster's "Word of the Day":

"Did you know?
Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Taranto, Italy was hit by a dance craze unlike any other. The town was afflicted by a malady that would come to be known as "tarantism" and was characterized by a hysterical impulse to dance. Some people claimed tarantism was caused by the bite of the European wolf spider, which is also known as the tarantula (and is also named after Taranto); such folks declared that dancing off the venom was the only cure. Musicians supposedly traveled to the region to help cure the epidemic, and some believe that the Italian folk dance called the "tarantella" resulted from the craze (though it is also possible that the name of that dance derived independently from "Taranto" and has no connection with "tarantism")."

(Thanks, FZ, for this post's title...)

dream snippet...

there is a very large male moose in my backyard, and he has found a huge grain-cake that i made, and has removed it from the "pan" ,and is eating it...he finds and eats a second one...i say out loud, "that's for you!"...

the moose looks like a cross between your average moose, and Horton; from of course, Dr. Seuss' book 'Horton Hears a Who'...the Horton-ness is represented by big flappy ears which look like bat wings...

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Fun With Radiation...

As a teenager in the 1940's, my Mother had radiation treatment for her acne. In 1980 she had ovarian cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery. Then in 1991 we found out that she had colon cancer which had metastasized to the liver. That was inoperable, so it was chemotherapy for two years until her death. I have always figured that it was the radiation "therapy" that got her. In reading 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' I found a reference to how radioactivity used to be considered "tonic". The Germans even used it in a toothpaste (!) which was named "Doramad". Yeah, it's no wonder we all die of cancer.

Also: read this article by John LaForge published in CommonDreams.org...

Fangs Up!!!


Here's Melian's tremendous portrayal of Gabe of Cobra Starship. "I'm like a machine but I still have dreams..." Viva la Cobra!!!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

wine club delivery dream.....

the UPS truck pulls up into the driveway, it is raining, two UPS guys hop out of the truck with my wine club box; one is my regular delivery guy and one is a trainee, there is a third UPS guy still in the truck...i make small talk as i sign the pad...

This month's Virginia wines are a red (55% cabernet sauvignon-30% cabernet franc-15% norton) and a white (65% viognier-35% vidal blanc) from Virginia Wineworks out of Charlottesville...both 2006 varietals...

I used to buy mostly imported wine, but have really been getting into VA wines these past two years. Check out the Virginia Wine of the Month Club, it's cool. We have so many new vineyards operating here now, it's fantastic.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

"Films Viewed" update...

Children of Men
The Good Shepherd, 2006
Pirates of the Caribbean "At World's End"
Zodiac (David Fincher), 2007
Ratatouille, 2007
Blades of Glory,2007
Death of a President (Gabriel Range), 2006
Astronaut Farmer
Sicko (Michael Moore), 2007
3:10 to Yuma (James Mangold), 2007
You Can't Be Neutral On a Moving Train, 2004
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo dal Toro), 2006
The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
American Gangster
Michael Clayton

Monday, March 24, 2008

Macro-Mania...



All right. These are what i was talking about. I realize that they are the obvious subjects, but it was good to test out the compatability of my "analog" lens with my digital camera. I also fixed the handle on our woodstove while i waited for the battery to charge. And had a Cherry Wheat. And read some. I love a good day off! What i really, REALLY needed, you betcha...
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Life is funny.....photographically speaking, that is...

I just got all geared up to do something i've been wanting to do for a year now (!!!!), which is put my old Micro-Nikkor P.C Auto 1:35 f=55mm lens on my new Nikon D70s. O.k., clean everything up nice, fit it and outside i go for some micro shooting, yay! Right. That would be the time that the battery would need recharging. Of course. So, you'll just have to wait to see how the "experiment" turns out. Photos to follow.....

Cheny doesn't care what you think, pal...

Oh, please watch this video of our vice president "flip(ping) the virtual bird" at us (as Michael Moore called it) from an ABC-"Good Morning America" interview with Martha Raddatz on 3/19/2008. Which was the 5th "anniversary" of Bush's Iraq war. Also, please note that our US soldier death count has now hit the 4,000 mark. Yippee.

Great Band Name...

KLOP...

(German) is a "vicious compound of picric acid and bleaching powder...", the Brits (WWI) called it vomiting gas--- see page 94 of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' by Richard Rhodes...

dreaming.....

i have a new coffee maker, i am learning how to use it... somehow the instructions, and the carrying out of them, are sexually stimulating and i am thinking whoah, if making coffee every morning is now going to be like THIS, that could be kind of weird!... this machine grinds the beans and then makes the coffee all in one unit, so as the java making process begins, water and grinds are spilling everywhere, it's a total mess, the carafe just does not seem to fit very well...so NOW i'm thinking that this just isn't going to work, and hopefully this machine isn't going to continue to malfunction...as i am cleaning up the spillage, there is another person helping me, and we are at a store working and Charlie Kidwell comes up and tries to buy some small stuff (candy?) from us, i am annoyed that he is bugging us because can't he see we are busy? but the other person helps him and off he goes, yay...

i have a package which i have readied for UPS pickup, i leave it on the patio table as i go to do something else...the postal delivery has come, and there is a large envelope from the company about something she (
not sure who this other person is, Mom? not sure...) has recently sent back, i open the envelope and inside, spilling out are a lot of postage stamps as her refund...some one says something about that package which i had set aside, and i worry that it has been misplaced, but when i go check on it, the UPS guy ( who delivers to the store where i work) has picked it up, his name starts with a "D"......

i am driving along a road, there is a body of water (lake) on my right hand side as i drive and i am looking over there, the area has been decorated with lights...there's a pavilion and a pier and picnic area ,and the lights look really cool, white ones and red ones, some delicate and all beautiful shining on the water and through the trees...

i am eating broccoli with cheese sauce...a LOT of broccoli...

i am in a contest where you get to announce a big upcoming event to the public if you win...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

3/23/2008.....

amazingulonimbus clouds off to the left
and then
behind me
how do i drive and stare slack-jawed at them
at the same time? at the same time i
smile and try to feel the weight
try to sail
the lenticular highway
of essence and crystalline sky
vast and grey and heavy with unknown
proportions and
unknowable touch

Women's History Month??? Really???

Here's a beautiful quote from Twisty at I Blame The Patriarchy:

"I’ve said it before and I’ll again: patriarchy isn’t some vague intellectual conceit invented by radical feminists to pass the time in between trips to the Birkenstock store. It’s an actual humanitarian crisis, and it has actual consequences, even for you, even if you say it doesn’t."
_________________________

I love her for this.

Sunday ,Moon in Libra...

Oh my goodness, not a good day to be inside Sandi's head. I woke up happy that i didn't feel depressed as i had a few days this past week. But then it all started to backslide as i was getting ready for work. I ended up at one point crying quite profusely while at the register. And not because i'd had any crappy customers or anything, but just because. And it was not hormonal weirdness either. It just was. My eyes still feel heavy with the tears behind them.

Monday, March 17, 2008

"Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act".....

The AETA, which Bush signed into law last year, is another alarming attack on our civil liberties. It strikes very close to home to me as an animal rights defender, vegetarian and organic gardener. We are not "terrorists", and this bill criminalizes us; animal advocates, practitioners of civil disobedience,whistleblowers and protesters. Check out the Equal Justice Alliance website: here.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

dream snippet.....

i am looking for our telescope...where we usually keep it, where we don't, all over the place...under stuff, behind stuff, i can't find it...i tell Chuck that someone has stolen our telescope; he says that he doesn't think it's been stolen...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

time for another "books read" update, no?

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, 2007...one of the most politically educational books i have ever read...
Nobodies by John Bowe, 2007
The Price of Loyalty by Ron Suskind, 2004
Putin's Russia by Anna Politkovskya, 2004
The One Percent Doctrine by Ron Suskind, 2006
Arsenals of Folly by Richard Rhodes, 2007
Blue Gold by Maude Barlow & Tony Clark, 2003
Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes, 1997.....this was a very interesting and somewhat nauseating read...the search for the agent that drives kuru, CJD and BSE...brings to mind the recent occurrences of people who work at pig slaughtering plants in the "head" room getting extremely sick because of aerosolized pig brains...one "fun" thing about this book is Rhodes referencing Kurt Vonnegut's book "Cat's Cradle", and mentioning a conversation he had with Vonnegut...

dream frag.....

Lorraine and i are getting ready to do heroin together...the set-up is very ritualistic...we sit on the floor next to a low table as i get the heroin out...it is in the form of small grey blocks which are like ashes pressed together...there are two blocks, i break each into two, we are going to do half at a time...we ingest the half-blocks...later i am in a room (a bedroom, perhaps) by myself, looking around the room, out the door, out the window...there are clothes lying on the bed and chair...i am thinking "now what?" as i cross my arms and slowly rub my biceps, staring...

Monday, March 10, 2008

Skateboarding is Not a Crime...

But this Baltimore cop IS:

America: Home of Stuff Not Made Here Anymore!

Sweatshop labor, we love it! Watch Lee Camp break it down here:

Snowkiting in North Dakota...

Check this out! Also see this article in the EcoSpace blog about 2XtM. Showcasing the wind energy potential of North Dakota, these three guys snowkited from the Canadian border 400 miles across N.D. to the border with South Dakota. Fantastic!

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Flying Dream segment...

i am flying toward the beach (like Ocean City), veering off to the left approaching the water...there is a fence running along the beach, i try to fly over it, but lose altitude and land on the sand "side" of the fence...i walk along and find an entrance to the water "side" of the fence...there are a few people there, as i walk along the beach i talk to an older gentleman who listens as i tell him of how this beach used to be when i was a kid, when i used to come here with my parents...it used to be lovely, and you could camp right on the beach..over the years it got more restricted, and we stopped coming when they built the big fence...walking now, it is a very sad looking area, tangled wire everywhere, debris washed up ashore that you must climb over...

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Monday, March 03, 2008

dream segment...

here at home my daughter is having a sleepover with a few friends...we are having a good time, and the party is now winding down, it's time for jammies and sleeping bags...as we are all doing so, Dean comes over to the house with a large quantity of friends/tour buddies, like maybe 30 people or so??? i try to make the best of it, entertain to a small degree, but mostly try to let everyone know that we are all ready to wind down here, but the "party" takes off on it's own...Dean tries to talk to me, and even touch me, but i tell him to leave me alone, to get off me; one of his close friends looks at me and just shakes his head and i cannot decide if it is with sympathy or something else...i walk down to the end of my driveway, and am concerned about all the people, but notice that they have pitched tents, so that is o.k. ...at one point Dean has decided to come inside the house and recline on "the couch" (funny, that) but i go after him and tell him to get out, i try to hit him with something (a chair? a folding table?) but do not really make much of an impact even thought i do manage to drive him outside...when i come back inside i talk with my daughter, and help her & her friends get settled AGAIN for their sleepy-time...she asks where Chuck is, and i look at the clock and see that it is 3:00 a.m.!! he should be here getting ready for work!! so i go into our bedroom and call him on my cellphone...he answers and when i ask him where he is, he says, "Detroit", and apparently i should have known that he had left to do the job there, but i had thought that it was later in the week...so at one point he stops talking, so i hang up and go tell my daughter where he is so she won't worry...

that happens to me in my dreams; trying to hit someone who is trying to harm me, but the blows not really connecting...it's like i lose the impetus of the punch on the way to delivery...

dream segment.....

i am at home, and Armand comes over to visit...this is great! I have gotten out the movie projector and begin to screen some old home films, mostly about Mom...some how Mom is also here, and watching, and cries at the screening...

Sunday, March 02, 2008

dream segment...

i am on the computer, and Adam Duritz sends me three songs...he also sends me an IM telling me why he'd sent me the special songs, because he knew that i was having a bad day...i began to listen to the first song, and wanted to send a reply back to him, but the usage was so different from any i'd seen before i couldn't figure out how to send my reply..the more i scrolled around, the more frustrated i became...the visuals of the videos were fabulous and the music was very good, but it was so difficult to concentrate as i was really trying all different kinds of ways to send Adam a reply...really wanted to thank him...