Saturday, December 26, 2009

Rum Balls & Sugar Cookies...


Mom and I used to make rum balls every Christmas. Some rum for the cookies, some rum for us. She would take them to school to share with the teachers, who would swear they'd get tipsy. It felt good to make them with Melian this year, even though we didn't drink any rum when doing so!
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Snow & a Beer


Here is a delicious holiday brew, "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009" from Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, CA . Spicy and perfect for this past Saturday, when we got almost three feet of snow. Beautiful!

The book I am reading is 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. The edition is my mother's "Modern Library" selection from 1945. It is odd how poor the printing quality is.
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Rep. Dennis Kucinich @ Lafayette Park Rally...

linked to this article @ CommonDreams.org

Animal Mineral Vegetable

downer cows
wolf killing in Alaska and Idaho
experiments on shelter animals

It is way past time for us humans to stop treating the other animals that live on this planet as objects for us to manipulate, abuse and consume.

Our human self-absorption and hubris amounts to nothing more than fallacy of thought; bringing destruction to the living earth on which we all live, and depend on for our survival.

All species co-exist and create a matrix for life and evolution, each with the other. Gaia Theory, partially, without the nihilism!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Thinking about this...

My friend Kitty sent me a forward last week containing some platitudes which I do not even recall the gist of at this point. But I did scroll down quickly to just give it all a cursory glance. Catching my eye there at the bottom was this (origin unknown) quote:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn
out, and screaming "WOOHOO! What a ride!"'

Sunday, December 06, 2009

I'm eating all the leftovers.


Nobody ever eats the last cookie. It sits in the cookie jar and dries out. The last sliver of pie always languishes on the plate. It sits there in the fridge desperately waiting. What is it about the last piece of cake that causes it to become so unappealing? Sitting in the fridge all alone? WHAT?

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Albino Peacock sighting...


While driving to music lessons this evening, my daughter and I saw an albino peacock walking through the woods. (No, I did not have my camera with me. Curses.) Jaw-dropping amazing. The one we saw was not fanned out at the time like this fellow.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I am madly in love with Stanley...

Please visit the American Anti-Vivisection Society and consider donating your time and/or funds to enrich animal lives and stop the usage of our fellow animals as laboratory experiments.

Monday, November 23, 2009

URGENT: Action Alert at Coal River Mountain

"We need you to stand with us to save Coal River Mountain.

Join us on Dec. 7 at 2pm at the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection headquarters in Charleston, WV for a rally and protest to save Coal River Mountain.

Massey Energy is actively blasting and mining on Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia. The blasting is taking place only a few hundred feet away from the Brushy Fork impoundment dam, which holds over 9 billion gallons of toxic coal sludge above the Coal River Valley. If the dam bursts, it is estimated that almost 1000 people who live, work and go to school would lose their lives."

"America's Favorite Animal Shelter"

Fauquier SPCA is the shelter that I voted for in Care2 & Adopt-a-Pet's "America's Favorite Animal Shelter" contest. Please consider doing the same, or go vote for your own favorite!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

We do NOT need more nuclear plants: "Three Mile Island radiation leak investigated"

From CNN: " Authorities at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant were investigating what caused a weekend radiation leak that resulted in 150 workers being sent home, officials said Sunday.

An airborne radiological contamination alarm sounded about 4 p.m. Saturday in the Unit 1 containment building, according to a statement from Exelon Nuclear, which operates the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. The unit had been shut down since October 26 for refueling, maintenance and steam generator replacement, the company said.

"A monitor at the temporary opening cut into the containment building wall to allow the new steam generators to be moved inside showed a slight increase in a reading and then returned to normal," the company said. "Two other monitors displayed normal readings."

Three Mile Island was the scene of the worst U.S. nuclear accident, a partial meltdown in 1979 that resulted in the plant's second reactor being shut down permanently.

Tests showed the contamination in Saturday's incident was confined to the building itself, and none was found outside, Exelon said. There was no threat to public health and safety, but the workers were sent home because they could not continue until the area was cleaned, Bill Noll, Exelon vice president, said in the Saturday statement.

One worker was found to have received 16 millirem of exposure, and others received lower levels of contamination. The annual occupational dose limit for workers at Exelon plants is 2,000 millirem, the statement said.

Radiation exposure from a chest X-ray is about 6 millirem, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Although Noll said it was hoped work would resume at Unit 1 on Sunday, Exelon spokeswoman Beth Archer told CNN on Sunday it had not resumed, as the cause of the leak was still under investigation.

Two radiation specialists from the NRC were scheduled to investigate Sunday. "Numerous work activities were going on in the building at the time the alarm sounded, and Exelon engineers are working to determine the cause of the incident," the statement said." read the full article here...

Virginia Wine & Canadian Cheese extended weekend...


I have been giving wine & cheese tastings at work all weekend. Will continue to do so Monday & Tuesday as well. Tastings of five Kluge Estate wines, and five complementing cheeses (Canadian imports). It has been very interesting and a lot of fun. I have sold three and a half cases of wine so far. Much, MUCH more than the main office thought that I would sell. They predicted that I would sell 7 bottles. Total. I have sold out of three of the wines! Had we received an adequate amount of wines in our shipment, I could have sold much more. I have had to tell many of my customers to return on Monday. So, the frustration has been that I could give my customers a taste of something that I could not actually SELL them because I had to wait until Monday to get more back in stock. Then today it came to not even having any left in the sample bottles for two of the wines. I could only tell my customers about the wine, and implore them to return Monday. But back to the people; there have only been two "spitters". I only had one "wine snob". There have been quite a few who said that they only liked sweet wine, who found out that they liked the dry wines. Then again there was the one young lady who said that she only liked wine if it "tasted like a 'Slurpee'", but she was a fun customer. There were some people who would ask me questions about the wine & the cheese; the SAME questions, four or five times in a row. And, happily,there were many people who were delighted at what I was sharing with them, and we had fabulous conversations about wine & life.

What I sampled out: Blanc de Blanc (2005), Sauvignon Blanc (2008), Simply Red (2004), Kluge Estate New World Red (2005), and Cru.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Beautiful Grey


It is an absolutely gorgeous grey misty rainy day. While taking a walk with Rhiannon earlier, Jesse Colin Young's song "Grey Day" (part of the "California Suite" on the "Light Shine" album from 1974) kept playing in my mind.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Beer And A Book...

I was enamored of Stone Brewing Company's IPA all Summer long. Now, I have found a beer of their making, just as exciting, to quaff all Winter long: "Smoked Porter". Oh, the taste buds rejoice! Peat-smoked malt!

Stephen King's latest book is a delight. In the upper echelon of his output. Huge book, 1075 pages. Another plus, as far as I am concerned. I read it in four days, it never bogged down.
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Poke Sky

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Lenah


there is snoring coming from behind the woodstove in the key of G

Great news for wolves!

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and environmentalists have reached an agreement Friday that scraps a controversial rule the agency had used to kill or permanently remove any wolf that killed three heads of livestock in a year.

Fish and Wildlife spokesman Tom Buckley says the rule "will no longer stand."

He says the agency has ways to deal with livestock kills "and remains committed to assisting the local livestock operators in any negative impacts they may have related to wolves."

Environmentalists complained the three-strikes rule favored the ranching industry and was a major roadblock to the effort to recover the species in the wild. Ranchers responded the policy targets wolves that grow accustomed to preying on cattle.

Several environmental groups sued in May 2008, asking the U.S. District Court in Arizona to stop the removal policy." The Associated Press, November 14, 2009

"Evolve Happy" Update...

My friend Roberto over at "Evolve Happy" has decided to be the sole contributor. He sent out an e-mail to David & I telling us of this decision last week. So no more Monday morning Doom & Gloom from me, or "Audio Treat of the Week" from DB. Please, however, continue to support EH.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Beer and a Book

Magic Hat Brewery in Burlington, Vermont has created an amazing Winter Lager in its new offering called "Howl". The brew is dark and dusky and I love it.
After having this book on my library shelves since my "Crown Books" days, the 1980's, I have finally read 'Just Above My Head' by James Baldwin, which was published in 1979. And I am very glad that I did. His writing was so very deep, emotional and insightful, that I have been inspired to seek out more books by him. He died of stomach cancer in 1987.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

How I Feel Today.

I've got to go to work!
It's a thing I'd rather shirk.
But then I wouldn't get paid
no progress would be made
and I'd feel like a jerk.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Seeing a memory with the mind's eye...

I have a visual memory of an event I did not actually see.

While bicycling north, James & I stopped at a grassy place below the parking lot of a roadside motel. We sat down to meditate*. While doing so (eyes closed), I heard a human holler at his dog. I heard the dog come running up to us. I heard and felt the dog sniff me. I am certain that the dog was a German Shepherd. All this happened and yet I continued my meditation. I have always felt that the dog did not bite me because I was so obviously non-threatening. Centered and peaceful.

This event happened in 1976. The other day I mentioned to one of my customers at work that it had been my goal to leave the country for the Bicentennial. She looked very puzzled and asked me, "Why?". I said it seemed like the thing to do. Really! Remember all of the crass commercialization centered around the Bicentennial? Oh, irony.

*Transcendental Meditation

Sunday, October 18, 2009

dream piece...

i am driving and Melian is my passenger...there is snow on the ground, it is still snowing...i pull out onto the main road; there was plenty of room to do so, but the car behind me dangerously pulls up close and then passes our car...then they slow down, and fire two shots at our car! i am freaking out, this is crazy! i am very angry...they turn into a gas station, so i pull into the gas station also...the driver gets out, and she walks back toward me as i am getting out of my car...we start yelling at each other...a police cruiser pulls into the parking lot and handcuffs her...another driver had seen what she had done, and called the cops...i give my statement to one of the cops...she yells some stuff at me as the officer puts her into the cruiser...i talk with another one of the officers about the situation, Melian stands by and then tells him what she saw too...

Monday, October 05, 2009

Everything Is A Photograph

taste buds dancing metallic citrus
cosmos breezes spatial foreground
green oak

Sunday, September 27, 2009

dream snippet...

i am online checking out the new Pearl Jam album...i am listening to a bit of each song...they are all terrible...i am sad about that, because i had read a really good review of the album in the paper...

Friday, September 25, 2009

'An Awesome Book' by Dallas Clayton...

Thanks to Valerie over at Evolve Happy I have discovered Dallas Clayton and his book 'An Awesome Book'. I am in love. I just bought two copies. Read this book. Feel your mind/heart expand. Hug somebody.

Awesome Book Tour from Dallas Clayton on Vimeo.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Beer & A Book...


With tomatoes...
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has done it again. Their new Harvest is a fresh hop ale; the hops from New Zealand, picked and flown to California. Delicious.
I picked up Lisa Grunwald's book 'The Theory of Everything' at the library booksale quite a while back. I've been on a fiction kick this summer, so began reading and got sucked in to the story quickly. Read until some time past midnight, even though I had to get up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning!
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

dream segment...

it is night and i am outside, walking toward my partner who has just called out to me to come over to where he is sitting against a fallen tree...as i settle down next to him, he tells me to look at the sky...there above the treeline, the night sky is visible full of stars, bright and lovely...as the cloud cover moves by, i see two vivid falling stars, one white & one red...i excitedly mention this to him...i see a few more falling stars, none as bright as those two however...i sigh with contentment at the beauty of the night sky...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Daily Acorn...


Our cat Tyga brings us an acorn every morning. She carries it up from the woods to our front doorstep. Usually it is just an acorn cap, but this summer she has taken to whole nuts. This morning's offering is a lovely two-fer. Thank you, Tyga-boo.
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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Friday, September 04, 2009

Assateague Island as therapy...

Growing up, my parents and I went to Assateague Island, Maryland every summer. Usually in July, as my Mom always had that month off from work. We had a home-made camper on the back of our four-wheel drive International Harvester "Scout", and we would go as far down the island as allowed, and camp right there. It was fabulous. I loved it.

I had not been there since 1989. Unbelievable, but true. Somehow I knew that I had; HAD, to go this summer. So my daughter, my dog and I went; the last weekend of August and into the first week of September. It was a total healing experience. All the depression that had been affecting me since late Summer 2008 just melted away as soon as we hit the beach. I felt centered and alive. It was also the Full Moon that week, so I was inspired as well.

Rhiannon & I took early morning walks every day. The surf was rather rough, so she did not enjoy getting in the water. We still made a game of it, and enjoyed ourselves. She was into the sandpipers, that was her favorite beach experience.

Melian got a bit of sunburn the second day, but that did not deter her from having a very enjoyable time. At one point she asked me, "Mommy, we are coming back here next year, right?" To which I responded with a enthusiastic, "YES!" I had taken her to Rehoboth Beach in Deleware, and Virginia Beach before, but this was her first trip to Assateague. She dug the ponies and the Sika deer. We had a campsite rabbit pal, and red-wing blackbird visitors.

Is it next summer yet?
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Thursday, August 27, 2009

the deeper question

tonight on this rain dark shine
blacktop driving road
my only concern is
which one of these are leaves
and which ones hopping tree frogs

Thursday, August 13, 2009

dream segment...

in my room (which seems like the way it was when my grandfather had come to live with us and my parents had their bed in next to mine for a while...) there is a rectangle shaped box of soil that contains the possibility of a plant of unknown origin, but that it just might grow...after i have discussed this with some of the other people who live here, i watch the plant grow...it is not unlike a carnivorous plant, the top fronds seem mouth-like...it is known that if this plant is fed something (or watered? much like "Gremlins"!!) it will become a feral animal...this has occurred; and i am sitting on the floor in my room, feeling the presence of the animal/monster in another room of the house, and the dread that accompanies that knowledge...it means to do us harm, and i can feel it...i have a hollow pit of fear in my abdomen, and i want out...i tell the others there in the room with me that i cannot take it any longer, and i am leaving...they are upset with me for this, and block me from re-entering the house briefly to retrieve my camera...i say "fine" and take off down the driveway, my father comes out on the porch and hollers at me to return, he has $325 for me, i decline and keep going...i pass through many towns, mostly on foot, sometimes in vehicles...i come to an auto-repair shop, and hang out in the garage with the mechanics*, talking and feeling at ease: safe...my father and mother (?) find me there, how did they locate me?... they drive into the garage and we are talking...i look out one of the windows and see some people next door, it seems to be a school yard activity of some sort, next thing i know, the police are bringing in three animals that belonged to the monster, in cages...i begin to feel fear again...next the police bring in the monster, and my father decides to kidnap it, he hooks the monster's box/cage to his car and we take off...i am so alarmed!!! i can see the monster, and it looks like a cartoon of a dead animal, with black X-s for eyes, but i KNOW that it is still alive and could come to and get us at any moment...i am crammed down in the floorboard of the back of his car (mom is there also) as far as i can go, but i can still see it out the window, and feel the fear too strongly...


*Later I read Charles de Lint's book 'The Mystery of Grace', and don't you know a lot of it takes place in a garage? Grace is a mechanic!

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Dream segment...

We are on our way to a music festival...we go into a resturant, but the other people we are with freak out at the prices, so we leave...at another location up the road a bit, Melian see a sign for coffee and asks to stop there, she & I do...the place is also an Irish pub! she gets her coffee and I order a pint of Guiness...I strike up conversations with the bartender and his brother & a couple of other regulars, there are a lot of Irish rockers & punks there! it's great fun...one of the brothers gives me his card as we are leaving, I show it to Melian as we walk out...we walk to the festival entrance...

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Happy Birthday Jerry Garcia...


Jerry, I miss you so much. I am very glad that my daughter got to see you before you clocked out. RFK 1995.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tuesdays @ Fosters...

I'm sitting at the bar reading the poem
"All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace"
which Brautigan wrote in 1967. 1967!!
And suddenly I'm welling up with tears for the beauty of him,
and the loss of him,
and I want the entire world to read this poem.

So, here:

"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace"
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.

I like to think
(right now please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.

I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.

Thank you, Richard

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I love a night-bloomer!

The last of the Evening Primroses (Oenothera) in their full glory. There would have been more this year, but the deer found them too tasty to resist. (Insert heavy sigh here)...

And yet, as it turned out, the remaining stalks continued to bloom right up until the first frost; just one or two blooms at a time! Fabulous!
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Beer & a Book...


'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle' is an intriguing, deep story. Dogs! Complex emotions, unexpected events! I loved it.

"Scarlet Lady Ale" is a delightful ESB from Stoudt's Brewing Company in Adamstown Pennsylvania. Lots of flavor, lovely color. I must find more brews from this company.
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Friday, July 17, 2009

"Catch-22"

Exercise cures depression.
When I am depressed, it is a monumental act to just get out of bed.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Propriety...

I walk down my driveway to the mailbox, a cup of coffee in one hand and the outgoing mail in the other. I am mildly embarrassed; I am wearing my pajamas! Later in the day I walk down to retrieve the mail which has arrived, a cold beer (Sam Adams Cherry Wheat) in hand. I am not embarrassed. I am wearing my string bikini!

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Beer & a Book..."Spring Edition"...

'Fire In The Lake' by Frances Fitzgerald is a deeply researched and intimate foray into the mind of Vietnam. It was a fantastic & interesting read. I've had this book for so long! Finally read it, and very glad for the fact. I learned a lot.

"Troegenator" is a tasty, carmel-y double bock out of the Troeg Brothers brewery in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Highly recommended.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Piece of a dream...

i am watching a video about a band named " ---", one of the guys reaches out and squooshes anothers face as he says the band's name, he has red curly hair and a beard... they've just had a new album come out...they are a Scottish rock band, one female & three males...the music sounds really good!

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

(eclogue)

the morning mist lies heavy
on the fields in
the lowlands

there is a chuck jones cartoon playing across the sky
sam & ralph clock in
and it begins

Friday, May 29, 2009

Word of the Day

eclogue
Meaning: a poem in which shepherds converse

Thank you, Merriam Webster, for this entry. But, seriously? What a niche genre!!! Would any one care to submit a poem in this style?

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

(untitled)

longing for the sound
whip-poor-will on the back stoop
singing summer nights

Monday, May 18, 2009

rain like drums

i am terrified
i am scared
i am not centered
time is roaring past me
i need to stop
and see
i need to feel
i need to be

Sunday, May 10, 2009

unease

I am not centered.
I am scared.

Friday, May 08, 2009

5:00 a.m.

clear mind of chatter
focus on lilting bird song
early spring morning

Thursday, April 23, 2009

dream segment...

i am hanging out with a Gypsy performance troupe which has come to the area...one of the men and i fall in love with each other...it is sweet and dark and intense...as the days go by, he is talking about some of the trials of his life, as he speaks, the pain is visible on his face, even to the point of physical change, as if the pain causes a rash which is an indicator of the severity of experience...another time he says that soon one of must go or one of us must stay to which i reply, "oh yes"...another time i am looking deeply into his face, clear now of the pain...as the troupe is packing, getting ready to depart, it seems that i have decided to go with them, he throws a beautiful brown dress (which is folded) at me,but i note a frown in his eyes and don't know why, then one of the troupe members, a female, naked, with long curly red hair dances up to him and they do a tease routine together...i notice that he looks at me sidelong and i realize that he is testing me, that he must gage my reaction to this routine...after all, they are a performance troupe, and do this stuff every town they visit...i look on thinking all this, and trying to figure out how i feel about it, i give a smirking laugh then.....

the alarm wakes me up and i don't know how i decided to react...

Monday, April 20, 2009

midnight

i reach deep into my innermost being and
bring out a ball of pain which i
hold in my hand, saying "this is that which is holding me back from life"
you reach out, and lifting the orb from my palm
say "i will take this from you and
destroy the anguish"

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

dream segment

i find a broken skateboard (which is Melian's i think) and instead of throwing it away, i inspect it closely, then begin skating on it...i coast around the patio, cruising over to say "hi" to someone who lives there (is it my house???) then i coast over past Melian to show her...

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Russian dream...

i am walking around a department/clothing store in Russia...as i pass through the Men's Department, i notice that there are a lot of very cute young men looking through the shirts...they all have hipster haircuts...some of them are wearing headbands, some sunglasses...most all of them are wearing and/or looking at open plaid oxford shirts...i think of how i need to tell Melian about this amazing array of cute Russian guys, so i call her on my cell phone...

Monday, March 30, 2009

EARTH HOUR 2009


Candles and woodstove fire. Talk about movies we've seen recently, and Roman history. Laugh a lot. Play with and love up Rhiannon. Melian plays "Animal Crossing" on the DS. The cats lounge about and come over for head rubs. Joonie attacks my hair, and purrs. (March 28th, 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.)
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Monday, March 23, 2009

slice of dreaming...

i come back home from work and there is a lot going on at the house where i live...lots of people...preparations being made for some sort of event...joey is there helping with the music...i am trying to remember a certain song, and am having no luck, so i grab a laptop that no one is using and try to search it out...the laptop grows increasingly difficult to use; the buttons grow smaller and the search capabilities more and more esoteric...

Monday, March 16, 2009

3/16/2009...moon in Sagittarius...

apply myself in detail to those things that matter to me
pay attention to
those things that i love
settle into
what brings me peace of mind and contentment

of late
my attention diffused and wandering
in depression/it
has given me a sense of time flying away
a feeling of fatality and pointlessness
of self

dream segment...

i am on my lunch break from work, and i am in a grocery store buying something to eat...i look across to one of the other registers, and there is Tracey (Ray's ex- wife) buying some stuff also...i have not seen her in a long while, so i try to get her attention, finally somebody else gets her to look over at me, and we walk over and talk...soon we are taking our lunch together, then drinking a few beers...we never go back to work, we walk and talk, then drive to my house...i apologize for the mess, i tell her that i have not vacuumed in a week...we hang out some more, i worry about not having returned to work, she doesn't seem to care...she used to work at the place where i do now, she calls a guy who works there on her cellphone and tells him that i have gotten drunk...that kind of makes me angry, i have had only 2 beers, i am not drunk! so we sit on the couch/bed talking more, i say we should go get some more beer...she stands up and stretches and says that she needs to leave...this also angers me, as i have not gone back to work mostly at her suggestion, and now she is leaving? what am i to do? i have been upset the entire time by the nagging fact that i do not know the phone number to my place of work, so i could not call them and tell them of my plight, and Tracey was no help with that at all...

Sunday, March 15, 2009

amalgam of workplaces dream...

i am at work...i am doing something around the back of the store, which is like Crown Books, but i am also working with groceries...i move to the front of the store and notice some customers who look like they need some help...i assist them in making their ice cream selection (oh no! Coldstone Creamery!), actually it is sorbet that i am going to pack for them and they will pick it up on their return...they are quite happy as they leave the store...then i begin putting the sorbet blend together for them, but the flavors keep changing, and the containers keep morphing, so it is rather difficult...the flavor containers are on shelves on the wall, the wall that was the fiction paperback wall at Crown...

Monday, March 09, 2009

dreaming of breakfast...

i ask Melian what she wants for breakfast, and she tells me, "Pancakes. Today and forever."

I am in the kitchen doing dishes when i remember this dream piece. The memory is so strong that i am not at all sure whether it was a dream or not. So when i am doing my shopping after work, i make sure to buy some all-natural pancake mix just in case!!

dream segment...

my partner (male) and i are going to start a resturant, we have bought a fabulous space in which to do this...it's an old farm-type building, just beautiful...as we are making plans for opening, we are garnering the assistance of a friend (female) of ours in the food preparation...next thing i know, she is bringing dishes in and setting up...it all starts to take off without me, i don't know what to do! i am getting frustrated and worried and confused as each moment brings something else along that has been done without any input from me! we're open, we have customers, we have all sorts of new employees: waitstaff, chefs/cooks, etc. i am walking around trying to get a grip on this, it's crazy...i go to clean tables, put out clean silverware...i find a lot of dirty untensils and ask someone if we have a place for washing the silverware! i find a tray of soapy water for the purpose of soaking the dirty untensils so i drop them in...then i try to get clean stuff out on the tables, put it's all so unorganized that it makes the task very difficult...we even have plastic forks & all to keep up with...i wonder if i will be able to get it all under control...

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Beer & a Book

"Hazed & Infused" is a dry-hopped ale from Boulder Beer Company in Colorado. Tasty, with a really good aftertaste. Part of their 'Looking Glass' beer series. I've been on a real hop adventure recently, and this one fits right in quite well. Unfiltered also, yeah!

'Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers' by Daniel Ellsberg is truly riveting due to the in-depth detail of his research, clearances, education and emotional perspectives on the Vietnam war situation. I am learning ever more about this historical period during which I grew up. Recommended quite highly. Visit Ellsberg's website here...


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Sunday, March 01, 2009

@ the 9:30 Club, April 7, 2009...

Oh, yes, yes, yes! I hope to go to this show. I am a big fan of Digable Planets.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

"Court Rules Cleanup Tab For Mines and Other Hazardous Sites Should Not Fall to Public"

Here is an article that is just fantastic news:

"WASHINGTON - February 26 - A federal court has ruled [2] that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must close a loophole that -- for more than 25 years -- has made it easy for mining companies, coal ash dumps, and a host of other polluting industries to skip out on costly cleanups by declaring bankruptcy. The case concerned EPA's failure to issue "financial assurances" standards that ensure that polluting industries will always remain financially able to clean up dangerous spills and other contaminated sites.

Attorneys Lisa Evans and Jan Hasselman with the public interest law firm Earthjustice represented the Sierra Club and environmental groups in New Mexico, Nevada, and Idaho in the case, decided late yesterday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, based in San Francisco.

Environmental advocates hailed the decision as a victory that paves the way for new federal rules that would require hardrock and phosphate mine operators, metal finishers, wood treatment facilities, and other industries to post bonds covering the cost of potential future cleanups.

"By not promulgating financial assurance requirements, EPA has allowed companies that otherwise might not have been able to operate and produce hazardous waste to potentially shift the responsibility for cleaning up hazardous waste to taxpayers," Judge Alsup wrote in the decision. The undisputed evidence before the Court demonstrated that such financial assurance requirements result in better environmental protection and faster and more thorough cleanups.

When the Superfund law was passed in 1980, lawmakers gave EPA three years to start putting financial assurance regulations in place. More than 25 years later, these regulations remain unwritten. Under the terms of the decision, EPA has until May 4 to identify the industries that will be first subject to these financial assurance requirements.

"This victory paves the way for the new administration to correct a longstanding environmental problem while saving taxpayers billions of dollars at the same time," said Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman, who argued the case before Judge Alsup. "New standards will push companies that deal with toxic substances towards more responsible practices."' read the rest of this good news here...thank you Earthjustice and Common Dreams!

Febura's Closing

kreeee-ar skyward hawk
yellow crocus blooming now
iris shoots appear

Another Installment of "Beer & A Book"...


Yes, your favorite series is back with two more heavily-enjoyed selections. Visit the 'Family of Secrets' website for ongoing information about this book and the research involved (and evolving). Visit Victory Brewing for information about this delightful Imperial stout, "Storm King".
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Rhiannon Haiku

she is atoms pulling
themselves together into
my beer loving dog

Friday, February 20, 2009

Oh, Joy; cuppie cakes!



On February 8, Melian & i went to the theatre to see "Coraline"...we got there a wee bit early so we browsed "Borders" before the film. We had been having cupcakes on the brain for a while , so i looked at the cookbooks and found THIS fantastic, delightful cuppie cake cookbook. Yay! So far we have made:
Banana Cupcakes
Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
Basil Pesto Cupcakes

We also found 'Screaming Monkey' there...with eyes that burn!!!

"Hop Devil" I.P.A.


This brew from Victory Brewing Company (located in Downingtown, PA) is just fabulous. The hops flavor is multi-layered and perfect. It tastes green. It smells wonderful. Highly recommended.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009

"A Commodity Called Misery"

"HOPKINS VILLAGE, BELIZE -- Sitting down here in Central America happily abusing my health, occasionally, between the hangovers and the bouts with sand fleas and mosquitoes comes an insight or two, or at least what passes for insight in my lowbrow take on life. One of these is just how damned lucky the Third World is that it cannot afford a sophisticated mental health system. By that I mean the kind in the "developed countries," where murder and suicide rates are quintuple what they are here in this village. Not that we are without own village resources. My Garifuna buddy Eljay, was in what we would call a depressed state a few months ago, and went to a local "spirit doctor."....."read article in its entirety...Joe Bageant @ his blog 'Deer Hunting With Jesus'...

Joe's article seems to me to be in the spirit of evolving happy. Check it out.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

dream segment...

i am going to see Prince in concert...Alice (from work) is coming with me...i have gotten a large amount of hardback books from somewhere, and i plan a huge bookcrossing book release! i put together all the books i have under "available" plus these new ones, it takes a lot of planning to get them all transported to the venue...a couple of other people are helping us...while we are in the parking lot picnic area i realize that there is no way that i am going to be able to take any of the set-up stuff into the venue, so i ask if i may keep all of it out here during the show...the 'official' person says "yes", so i do the book release right there, i make a big announcement about the release with as much fanfare as i can muster! then, i realize that i have not registered any of the new books with bookcrossing! they all are without BCID numbers! oh no...with a sinking feeling i tell Alice...we resign ourselves to that error and go to the show...

later, i am at home, talking with Melian & Chuck in the living room...outside we hear a huge grizzly bear who is growling, roaring actually, right at the other side of the wall, Chuck says, "watch him put an arm through the wall", and i say, "don't say that because he will"...so of course no sooner are my words out that here comes the bear's huge paw through the wall, wood splintering...Melian & i run out to the car, she has grabbed an umbrella...when we get in, i realize i don't have my keys, but there they are in the driver's seat! I tell Melian to press the clutch pedal...in our haste & fear i have gotten in the passenger's side and she the driver's...we are going to start the car and swing by to get Chuck as he runs out of the door...the car is my 1966 Bug...

What is Bookcrossing, you may ask? Well if you had not noticed the widget to the left, here is a link for you!!!

Look Who's Gone Organic!

Oh, yes, it's Oxford Raspberry Wheat. Fantastic! I am thrilled that Oxford has taken the organic ingredient path. I've been consuming their Raspberry Wheat for six years , and find myself even more enthusiastic now...visit the website...enjoy the beer...save the world!!!
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this one is for you, derek_


Confused? Try this link (see #5).
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Oh, I Don't Know, I Think I May Prefer a Nice Velvet


Here is a remake of a graffitti from the early 1990's which used to reside near the post office. Eventually the original was painted over.
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Friday, February 13, 2009