3/7 ths of the Crew...

Rhiannon, Buddy & Tyga go strolling with photographer Melian. She had borrowed my camera and gone on a major photo shoot...

dream segment...

i go to the dentist's office to have some work done...i wait in the office for a long time, other people come and go, but i never get called in for my appointment...so as the office is about to close, i walk up to the receptionist and ask her if i'm going to get called in, or should i come back tomorrow? i'm being kind of sarcastic, but sincere at the same time...later; another day, i am back, and have something done, but the procedure is really simple and doesn't address my dental problem, i discuss this with the dentist: he is Indian with glasses and longish brown hair...he sort of waffles on an answer, but more appointments are in my future to fix my dental dilema...so i'm in the waiting room, and there are a lot of people there and it turns out that there is a jazz history thing going on, it's fascinating! there are people playing music, mostly African-American; photos on display, books to look at, short films, recordings to listen to & buy; it's really a fabulous experience! i make some new friends...

magnet therapy needed

cold shards of fear ice while tears
start and stop behind my eyes of
dismay and sorrow takes me to
fetal position
mind shaking

word of the day...

horripilation

goosebumps, the feeling of your hair standing up...from fear or cold or excitement...

The Enchanter...

Melian's awesome photo of my Halloween costume this year...it was said by many that I was quite scary...at one of the homes where we trick-or-treated, a guy asked me what I was...when I told him, he asked me was my name "Tim"!!... that was a delightful moment...

Oh, and a thought almost too beautiful to put into words!!!

NO MORE 'W' ...NO MORE BUSH DOCTRINE...NO MORE LIES AND OBFUSCATION...NO MORE CHENEY!!! now let us set about regaining our civil liberties...

Our President...

12:15 a.m. and Obama just finished his victory speech..well, that was beautiful...perhaps now we can regain the respect of the rest of the world...

Yeah!!!!! Obama '08...

Our new President is Barack Obama...it's real!!! 11:56 p.m. and it's 338 electoral votes/47,764,579 citizen votes...(i listened to McCain's concession speech, and it was a fine one, good job on that John, amazingly enough!) Oh, and way to go VA with 1,613,151 Obama votes, damn right!!!

dream segment from two nights ago...

i come home and find that all the kids have been naughty, and Miss Ethel is in a lip-stuck-out funk about the misbehavior...i am upstairs in the big room, and find Ethel crouched down near the desk, & i ask her just what is her problem??? she shows me the papers detailing all the kid misbehavior, but i cannot read them because the kids have all gotten their papers wet, and the print has run...Miss Ethel gets ready to leave...i try to tell someone else what has happened, and the telling is quite lengthy & detailed, but i keep getting interrupted, so i must begin again...that's when i wake up, and the telling plays over and over in my head for quite a long time...

Zappa Plays Zappa...

I just got home from seeing ZPZ at the Birchmere in Alexandria. My goodness was that a tasty treat, or what!?! Dweezil is astounding. And, he smiles the whole time.

Fangs Up! in the green room...

some Good News for a change!...

I cannot even imagine the destructive scope of this project. Thank goodness the EPA struck this down. Read this piece from Grist:

Yazoo Keeper
EPA puts kibosh on wetland-destructive Army Corps project

The U.S. EPA has vetoed a giant, expensive plan to build the world's largest water pump in the Mississippi River delta. The so-called Yazoo Pump flood-control project would have sucked 6 million gallons of water a minute from 67,000 acres of wetlands along the Yazoo River. The scheme, proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and first authorized by Congress in 1941, would have cost $220 million. The EPA concluded that maybe, just maybe, sucking all that wet out of the wetlands would have been damaging to fish, wildlife, and migratory birds. "The EPA truly deserves our thanks for killing this unnecessary and economically wasteful Corps of Engineers project," says the Sierra Club's Ed Hopkins. "The natural, and free, flood protections offered by these wetlands are far more effective than an expensive pumping project." The veto was only the 12th time since 1972 that the EPA has put the kibosh on a Corps project; the last was in 1990.

[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

sources: Associated Press, National Audubon Society, U.S. EPA, Sierra Club
get the backstory, in Grist: EPA set to kibosh Mississippi Delta boondoggle
see also, in Grist: A special series on the Army Corps and the Mississippi River

Orangealicious...

Buddy is just so adorable.

two "work" dreams...

i am at work and getting ready to set up a display...in the back room i find a large white cardboard display box, and go ask dax if i should use that for the display set-up...he says, "no! i told you to use that", and points to a deflated inflatable pool...i say, "oh yeah! that's right", and get it from off the floor...(later) dax, todd & i are in the office drinking beer...todd starts to twist open a bottle top, but i snatch it away from him and use my bottle opener...

dax & i are done working for the day, he gives me a ride to his house, but i am so tired that i fall asleep in the car, he goes on inside...later when i awaken i too go into their house...i realize that i need to get ready to go to work, but i'm wearing yesterday's clothes & have no way to get home to change unless dax drives me there...he is unconcerned about this, and goes into another part of the house...they have a new dog, a mastiff & as i am standing talking to valerie, the dog pees on my left pants leg...this is bad because now i really need some clean clothes! i ask valerie if she has a pair of "fat pants" that i could borrow...she looks but doesn't find anything, then says she will give me her credit card...as i am about to leave, she says wait, i'll take you to the store...so we get in her car and go to the mall...

dream from 11/18/1977...Moon in Pisces...

james, frederick, thomas & i are swimming in the ocean. thomas becomes very angry at me for something about a penis (this involves him and an extra and/or lost penis). we get out of the water onto a pier-like structure. thomas is complaining to me. he is going up the ladder before me.

james & i are less than enthusiastic members of some mafia-esque group. we are in underground rooms, a basement. james & i have witnessed a murder and we try to tell/show the leader about it. there is a screen where we watch a "replay" of the murder. the killing involved a woman who was shot in the middle of her forehead. (the picture shows lines like this: ---- going to her forehead) then, she shoots someone. the leader does not come over and look at the screen. he is talking to some men who are other members of the group. after james & i have viewed the "replay", we decide not to show it to the "don", and he does not recall us mentioning the problem, so we all walk into other rooms. the don tacks a note up on a bulletin board as he passes it by. i read the message. it is a note to "sandi & james" reminding us to think up some ideas for some project the group is doing. i lie, telling the don, "yeah, i've been trying to think of that all day. it's hard." he understands. all over men are working on the project, using different mediums. there are some paper mache things hanging form the ceiling. some cloth, stuffed things... i comment on how nice all the stuff is.

james & i are running around a suburban home/wooded area. we are playing. james finds a kite string buried under some sand behind one house. he digs it up. we run on...then james & i are sitting at a long table, like at school. there are other tables and a lot of other people sitting around. at one table there is a girl who knows us, i go over to talk to her. she tells me to say "hello" to james for her. (still in "school") i am sitting at a desk with a lot of other people ( all women, i think) around. one girl & i start to sing. we start out with 'Joy of Cooking' songs. i do not know all the words, but watching her closely i can do it. i look up and see a girl across the room lift her head and sing with us a bit. good feeling! the teacher (female) comes over- the girl i am singing with starts another song, sounding like the instrumental part. the teacher motions me to start singing the words. but i do not/cannot. this is o.k. we go on and sing together some more. i am pleased with my voice. ever so often i really belt the song out. on another song i know the words very well, and sing with such energy! we are waiting for school to let out, for the buses to arrive. we are in the lobby of the building, there are glass doors opening to the street. the streets/the city is very busy. some of us go stand outside by the side of the building to wait. as i stood there waiting, two women walk by with huge cowrie shells for earrings. i am amazed and excited and say, "cowrie shells!!!" out loud. a few of the people in this group suddenly run over to the church across the street. the rest of us chase after them. this is a game, and we're having fun. we get to the church, and the others who ran there first jump up from fake graves they've been hiding in to scare us! we go inside the church. it is old, falling apart and musty. across the street at the school, kids are getting in trouble for standing outside on the sidewalks to wait. authorities herd them back inside. at first i peek around the corner of the church, hoping to not be seen, so that i can watch. then we all go back and mingle with the crowd. school is finally let out. the girl (who knew james & i) and i are going to leave together, but the bus does not come. so we decide to walk home. after we cross some highway, we get separated. i try to get home to james on my own, but cannot because i do not know the way from here, she knew...i am then flying in what is understood/supposed to be a private plane, but it is a big round cushion on which i can reline . i look down as i fly, soon realizing that i am flying over NYC! i am lost, and the sun is going down. the moon is in the sky. after a while, i decide to turn around. as i am going back, i encounter some people who help me. we work out the direction i need to go on a calculator which also has a little picture screen. i calculate back to the highway, and see what number i need to get me there...

Postscript: looking through a copy of the 'National Geographic' later, i come across a photo page which contains quite a few cowrie shells, and it sparks a segment of dream memory. i tore the page out, and tucked it in my dream diary...

Eve Ensler on Palin...

My friend Kitty (thanks!!!) just sent me this article titled "Drill, Drill, Drill" by Eve Ensler. It's on the Huffington Post blog. And I say, "Wow". Ms. Ensler pretty much nails it as far as I'm concerned.

And while you're at it, read this little gem about white privilege vis- a- vis McCain & Palin from Tim Wise on AlterNet.

a nice word o'the day...

Merriam Webster's "Word of the Day" is euphony. Similar to another favorite word of mine: mellifluous. Enjoy, and may your day be euphonic!

no sleep for me last night...

So, I get an e-mail from my daughter's language arts teacher alerting me to the fact that my daughter has an "F" in the class right now. This being the 10th day of the school year, mind you. Two of the reasons are from assignments not turned in. There is a zero tolerance policy on homework/assignments not turned in on time. This I understand. ( "It's in my locker.", is not an excuse. ) What I don't get, and what was driven home to us at "Back-to-School Night" last Tuesday; is that THIS year they have changed the grading system to "match" the high school grading system so that we don't stress out our ninth graders next year when they hit high school, and their grades show up on their transcripts which will be looked at when being considered for college. O.k., let us take a breath here, and look at this more closely: instead of just having a grading scale which remains the same through all 12 years of school, we apparently now have a separate one for high schoolers...and we are worried about stressing the new 9th graders out with this...so we deal with that instead by stressing out our 8th graders with this new high school grading system NOW, because we don't want to screw up our 9th graders chances of getting into college by having crappy grades from all the stress...SO: we are stressing out our 8th graders about something that is FIVE YEARS IN THE FUTURE...you know, instead of just instilling a love of learning in them NOW...and of course the deeply personal irony for me here is that I believe in public education...

dream sequence...

i am riding a subway train , and as we near my stop i walk up front to pay my fare...the Asian male driver sits at the controls and waits as i go through my money to get the correct fare amount; i have a dollar bill, some coins, and a twenty...he just takes the twenty... when i ask for my change he says that drivers don't carry change! but the he will take the twenty because he trusts me...i get off the train and go into the big metro hub, ride up the escalator and then get a bike to ride...as i am pedalling i realize that i never did get my change, so i stop and go back into the transportaion hub to find that driver and get my change...i ride this escalator and that escalator, trying to find the one that will take me back to the platform for that train...i find two lower floors dedicated to gambling, a floor with shops, and quite a few other floors, riding up and down these escalators, and walking the steps; but no train platform...there are many people there, and i stop to ask one man who is wearing a station uniform about my predicament; he basically says my search is futile, that i won't get my change back from that driver even if i were able to find him...all the while i've been searching i knew this, but kept looking anyway, feeling rather foolish for having allowed him to take that $20 to begin with!

Organically Farmed Since 1974...

It's almost 9 o'clock in the green room...

Reading Update...

• Marching Toward Hell by Michael Scheuer, 2008...Scheuer is angry, but seriously; he does have a right to be...this book is intense, and informative; if you can get past some of the vitriol, you will learn a great deal about the way our country is still not truly dealing with the Osama bin Laden/radical Islam jihad question, and our government's stupid misconceptions about Islam in general...

• Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, 2008...grew up in this era, but of course this book taught me a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that I never knew as a young person...what a well-written book! with a dry humor and sarcastic bite that fits perfectly...

• The Family by Jeff Sharlet, 2008...a nice expose of one of the more extreme christian groups in this country...I laughed, I gagged, I got angry...

• A Russian Diary by Anna Politkovskaya, 2007...Anna was an amazing journalist...if you don't know much about the way life is in Putin's Russia, you must read this book, quite an eye-opener...

• Duma Key by Stephen King, 2008...another good one from King...

• Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, 2007...punk photography & a mystery in Maine! what more could you ask for? great stuff once again from Ms. Hand...

Good Times.....

RAIN (by Rusted Root)
Hit upon ‘em Joe,
Raise the barn yourself
Hit upon ‘em Joe,
Raise the barn yourself
Rain’s gonna fall,
Rain’s gonna fall.
Rain’s gonna fall,
Rain’s gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.
Don’t get out.
Hit upon ‘em joe,
You can raise the barn yourself
As you’re kickin’ in the sun, yeah
Hit upon ‘em joe,
You can raise the barn yourself,
As you’re kickin’ in the sun yeah.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.

(c) 2002 Island Def Jam MusicShredder says, "Just remember; if you're at the VCU campus, check out the fabulous burritos to be had from my Mom's cart!"

Feel It

another quality photograph by Melian...

"Copulating Bunnies"...

Joonie gets caught up on her alternative press reading...

Mantis Update...

Remember the Mantis babies born back in the Spring? Well, here is one of them grown to quite the young lady this past July. She has made this Zinnia plant hers, and catches lots of delicious comestibles from this locale. Alas, that does include quite a few butterflies...

Melian took this wonderful shot of some discarded wings:

Harper's Ferry, WVA

my swim suit still smells like the Potomac, let's go tubing again!!! but this time without drowning the Coolpix...

7/31/2008...

My face feels sideways, like I am a painting by Picasso.

deer dream...

Chuck and I are out behind our house in the woods working on something. As we walk over to one area, we flush a deer. I laugh and point this out to him. Then we see that it is actually a fairly good-sized herd of deer. As I watch them tail up and scamper off, I notice something odd, and say, "Look! That deer has a pair of work gloves in his back pocket!". Chuck stops what he is doing and watches as the herd moves off. The "work glove" deer seems to be the leader of sorts, he turns into a cowboy/trail-rider sort of character, on a horse! I say to him, " I love you!" and he replies something to the effect that he finds friendship everywhere. Chuck and I laugh at this, but I worry did Chuck think that I really "love" this deer/guy?

sometimes, there is anger...

Yesterday being a day of laziness, which was fine - even though the sun went into hiding well before noon and didn't "come back", but segued into a rainstorm, I made that adjustment. Later I had a meltdown, though. After Chuck got home, I really wanted to walk the yard with him and talk about stuff, but he was preoccupied with what he wanted to do and not paying attention to me. So I freaked. i slammed every door I could get my hands on, and broke the sliding door in the bathroom. Yeah. It happens. But, not just that, I was screaming about it. And after all that, I gave myself a time-out over next to the garden shed. Then I made dinner (cheese enchiladas, yummy! and refried beans in the cast iron frying pan) and went back to reading - first, the paper and then Michael Sheuer's book about America & Islam after Iraq. Well, Sheurer is so right about everything he is saying about our government's approach to Islam & bin Laden, he should know- but the thing is just how angry he is in this book. I see his point about various organizations being a problem on the battlefield, but wonder about his anger at and hatred of environmental and feminist organizations. Anyway, that odd anger does not detract from the purity of his argument that if the U.S. would just remove itself from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and cease to blindly back everything Israel does, that al-Queda would cease to be a threat, they would leave us alone. Actually that is not even HIS argument at all, it is simply all that bin Laden has ever stated in his messages to us, the American people. If only our elected "employees" would heed the message. ---So, this morning as I was drinking coffee and looking around the yard, with my lovely Rhiannon by my side, I could feel my sorrow and knew that I just had to relax and let it be. As the day went on I was alright. At work, I had a few people give me some kindness which went far. When I got home, Chuck was full of love and hugs. On to Melian's drum lesson and then some shopping! Ha!

6/3/2008

I am sitting out on the patio reading 'Swimming Against the Current' (by Hightower & DeMarco) when a grasshopper starts jumping against the door of the greenhouse. This activity draws the attention of Tyga, who had been napping underneath the picnic table. She chases after the grasshopper for a little bit, then the grasshopper leaps away from that area and goes hopping and flying up above the picnic table and on past. This gets Lenah's attention. She gets up from her comfy spot and chases the 'hopper on into the grass behind the swing bench. This is all beyond cute, seeing Lenah get frisky. She might be 15 years old, but she knows how to work her inner kitten!

And so there you have it, one of life's perfect moments. Fleeting, but so deeply satisfying. Sunny day in June, reading in a lawnchair, happy cats...A sudden smile and a strong sense of completeness and contentment.

What I've Been Reading update...

'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' by Richard Rhodes, 1986
'Dark Sun' by Richard Rhodes, 1994
'In Defense of Food' by Michael Pollan, 2008
'World Hunger-Twelve Myths' by Lappe,Collins,Rosset & Esparza, 1998
'Stolen Harvest' by Vandana Shiva, 2000
'Blue Covenant' by Maude Barlow, 2007
'No Way Home' by David S. Wilcove, 2008
'Water Wars' by Vandana Shiva, 2002
'Swim Against The Current' by Jim Hightower & Susan DeMarco, 2008

Praying Mantis Birthing...

These Mantis babies are now getting to be about one inch long, as they spread throughout the garden...I was really lucky to catch this egg-case emergence before I left for work one morning back in March...Chuck had attatched this egg-case from a broken raspberry cane onto a part of the garden fence for the winter...

feline cannibal dream segment...

it is night time, i am in the kitchen, a young woman comes in and alerts me to a crisis outside ...there are three kittens cannibalizing two adult cats outside on the patio! (none of these cats are mine) the cats appear to have been alive when the kittens started eating them...it's so gross, fur and entrails all over...so i sort of spring into action as best i can...the idea is not to just chase them off, for they could just do it again...i intend to get out the kitty-carriers and take them to the pound...i begin with one of the cardboard carriers which was broken down...i am trying to re-construct it using tape, but it's in bad shape and the tape i am trying to use is not sticking well at all...i try a few different types to no avail, each is worse than the previous...at first the woman (30's, long brown hair, caucasian) is trying to help...later i am trying to get Melian to help, with little luck...i am getting really frustrated and somewhat stressed, for it feels like time is of the essence! i give up on the cardboard carrier and look for another...i find a metal & plastic one which i had forgotten that i had!! getting it ready for use is easier...i begin to try to assemble the kittens, it turns out that there are 5 of them!! Melian is not helping at all, and i'm getting upset about that also...as i get some of the kittens into the carrier, i notice that the two cats; whom i thought were dead, get up and walk/stagger away across the vegetable garden (no fences)!! this amazes me, as they certainly appeared to be dead earlier...

Barrel Oak Winery grand opening!

Today was the grand opening, and it was tremendous fun. I did a full tasting which consisted of twelve different wines, and ALL of them were quite delicious. Here's what I had: BowHaus White, 2005; Seyval Blanc, 2007; Viognier, 2007; BowHaus Red, 2005; Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005; Merlot 2005; Norton, 2005; Petite Verdot; Tour'ga Franc; Cabernet Franc Reserve; "Chocolate Lab" dessert wine; "Late Harvest" Viogner...I bought 6 bottles to bring home. Everyone was so nice, it was great to finally meet Sharon & Brian, and take the informal tour. Another highlight was meeting the new puppy Justice, just 8 weeks old! My co-worker & pal Linda went with me, and she had a great time as well, the first time she'd ever visited a winery! Also, I did a book release while there...

dream snippet...

i am at the computer when i hear a noise at the door...as i am naked, i dash into the library and look around the corner at the front door so as not to be seen...there are a few state police at the door trying to see in/get in...after a while they walk around the house looking in windows and checking out stuff...i can hear them talking...as it is late evening i am hoping that i am well hidden in the shadows as i do not want to talk to them...finally they leave and i go into my bedroom...

dream segment...

i am sitting on the couch in my living room, knitting...two guys come in and attack me...i stab the one aggressor with a knitting needle and then whack him upside the head with a jar of spaghetti sauce...that knocks him out...he's lying on the floor, i call the police but they don't show up...

Call the cops, I'm listening to Joni Mitchell again...

One of my neighbors has a thing against me. She used to call the police on me every Thursday a few years back. Complaining about my music at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The cops would ride up and say that they couldn't hear the music from down at the end of the driveway, so I was cool. The last time it happened, I was listening to Joni Mitchell's 'For The Roses'. The cop told me the neighbor's full name and told me I should file harassment charges. I never did, I figured that her misery was her own. So here it is a Thursday, and I am off from work AND I am listening to Joni! I recently splurged and bought a CD version of 'Blue', which is the very first Joni Mitchell album I ever heard, back when I was 14, in 1972. My LP version is so worn, I thought that this would be a fitting purchase. The first CD I've ever purchased for which I also own an LP. Yeah...excuse me now while I play some air dulcimer...

The Bigger Lights acoustic set...

dream segment...

i am at a school fund-raising function, lots of people there, walking down one crowded hallway i stop and talk with one of the organizing "Moms", i am going to help by selling books of postage stamps...talking with other moms...in the cafeteria, there is a food buffet and a wine bar...at one of the tables i meet Jimmy Carter!!!, when i go to get a glass of wine, he wants me to get a roll of nickels for him...when i come back to the table, i have forgotten the nickels, so i go back to get them...i'm getting another glass of wine, but the first bottle i pour from is really gross and filled with some nasty decomposed matter, so i dump that out and go to another bottle...the roll of coins that the guy gives me has dimes in it too, so i figure that might be o.k. and head on back to the table...

What I Am Reading...

I have just begun reading 'In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan, and on page 100 i found what is my favorite wording thus far: "Renner documents how Price eventually came to see the problem of diet and health as a problem of ecological dysfunction. By breaking the links among local soils, local foods, and local peoples, the industrial food system disrupted the circular flow of nutrients through the food chain. Whatever the advantages of the new industrial system, it could no longer meet the biochemical requirements of the human body, which, not having had time to adapt, was failing in new ways." This passage sums up a large part of my world view, and food is a major facet thereof...i love food and what it means for all of us animals, and worry endlessly about the industrialization of our "food-production"...

Check out 'evolve happy'...

One of my favorite bloggies, 'evolve happy' has published a manifesto, and is looking for input, comments and the like...these critters are my pals, and i would love for you to check them out and give them some love, criticism and stuff like that...yeah!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak sighting...

Our first ever rose-breasted grosbeaks came to visit this week, three of them, all males...decades ago Mom & i enjoyed a few winters with Evening Grosbeaks, but they haven't visited since, much to my dismay...this fine photo is thanks to "birds eye viewer" on Flickr...
wait, hold on! Chuck & i just looked at the feeder, and there is a female also, yay!

dream snippet...

we are all in the kitchen, and suddenly Dale comes charging in the door! i yell out, "DaleBert's home!", and both Chuck & Melian say oh wow, yay! and come into the kitchen to see him; he's hungry, so Chuck gets a small bowl of crunchies just for him...Dale is next to where the cat crunchies used to be, so i call him over next to me, and put the bowl down for him in a secluded spot so he won't be all freaked out, and i hand feed him the first crunchie...after he's eaten some he walks around a little, and some of the other cats come up to check him out, all is going well, and we are all so happy that he is home...

Local church updates their look...

Here is the new sign up at Olive Branch Baptist Church. Not sure what the deal is with this message either, but at least it's not quite as obscure as the previous one (see "Religious Marketing" post from 2/16/2006). Can't wait to see what the new one might be!

Because it's just not enough to cut off our clitorises...

This article and video at Feministing is a mind-blower. I had never heard of breast-ironing before. Notice how once again the girls are being punished, that is to say tortured, for the imagined (presumed) sexual appetites and approaches of the males. I laugh (yeah: ha-a-ha) every time I hear someone say that female genital mutilation is equivalent to male circumcision. That argument just doesn't "cut" it, HAHAHA. Let's see, boys: can you still have an orgasm after circumcision? YES. Can a woman still have an orgasm after clitoral removal? NO. And let's say that it's not even about orgasm, o.k.? Can a woman even stand to have any kind of sex at all after having her labia and clitoris removed? NO NO NO. And let's say that it's not even about intercourse, o.k.? Can a woman even stand the pain involved in urination after genital mutilation? NO. Yeah....

Again, this is why i absolutely adore Twisty Faster @ IBTP...

"I hate Komen because they’ve brainwashed millions of people into believing that if they buy pink shit they are “making a difference.” Snap out of it! All you are doing is buying pink shit. Komen is a marketing facilitator. They do not reduce breast cancer occurence. They do not reduce breast cancer deaths. All they do is hook up sanctimonious shopaholics with corporate leeches who want to shine up their tarnished public images."
Read this post....

dream segment...

i am riding a motorized skateboard down a major highway, about to merge onto a superhighway when the power to my board dies...i skate to the shoulder and take out my cell phone to call for help, the battery to my cell in dead, too...as i stand there for a minute trying to decide what to so, two other people walk up to me and ask if i need a ride, because they do too! then a guy walks up ans days he can give us all a ride, so we walk, RUN! across this big road over to the other shoulder to get to his car, it's a VW bug...as i'm trying to climb in, i slip in the snow and slide down in the ditch, the snow is really deep there and i'm thinking whoah! i'm going to get buried in this snow, but i manage to climb part way out and one of the people gives me a hand so i can climb all the way out...

see it while you still can...

I drive by this fabulous rock formation on my way to work every day...recently, this area was "approved"by the county for a new housing development ...i despair the fate of this compelling earth form, soon to be the site of a new McMansion???

Remember to always Vote Hemp...

New store opening in Adams Morgan: Capitol Hemp...they (Adam Eidinger and partner) hope for an opening day later this month. Yay! Yesterday's Washington Post ran this small piece in the Business section. Fabulous!

dreamie-dream...

i am at a friend's home, and we're having some live music...at one point the guitar player hauls off with his instrument and whaaaacks the drummer right in the head, he falls off the chair onto the floor...at first we are all dealing with a laughter response, but we quickly realize that there was no theatre involved, that was a blow dealt in anger...so everyone is hopping around trying to get the whole thing back together and make sure that everyone is in one piece!

sometime after the show, i am at Gwynne's house, and trying to get to the bathroom to pee...there are a lot of people there hanging out, i have to climb over some of them...all of Gwynne's furniture is falling apart...

7 o'clock a.m. with a cuppa java...

this morning's light reflected all through the house...

Literary Barbie...

Barbie gets nekkers in the library...which brings to mind 'Mondo Barbie' by Lucinda Ebersole & Richard Peabody...(see 'Gargoyle')...this is my original barbie from my kidhood, who has been hanging out in the library for quite a few months now, i think she's worked her way down through all the Charles de Lint...

Twisty does it again.....(as usual)

"That’s the thing about patriarchy. It does the defining, not you. That’s what makes it the dominant paradigm. You can abstain from sex, you can fuck your way across the universe, you can be a stone butch dyke with a utility belt, you can get your boobs amputated and your uterus ripped out, you can be sex-neutral in your own crackpot mind, you can be ugly or hawt, you can be the Democrats’ presidential nominee, you can even age out of desirability, but you will always be defined in terms of, and used according to, that which the dominant culture describes as your essence: sex. Or, as you are alternately defined: a receptacle for the perpetuation of male supremacy."

IBTP, see "The continuing exploits of the fetus-lovers"...

brand_baby_530...

NextNature.org gives us this compelling image...which comes from AdBusters Culture Shop..."We are all born into a world which has been designed already."

I'm ready for my disney tie-in Mr. DeMille...

car crash dream...

i am driving along and the line of traffic i am in comes to a halt, a mild halt, but the person behind me does not stop in time, and crashes into my car...so i ram gently into the car in front of me, but damage is done nonetheless, even though no person is injured...so we all get out of our vehicles and do that insurance exchange thingie until the police show up...

slice of dreaming...

i am going down Logmill Road (driving? walking?) and there are more houses being built on both sides of the road, all over the place...and a big super-highway overpass being built over on the left in one of the farm fields...i am horrified and saddened and angered as i go along and see all this destruction/construction...

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...

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!!!

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.

"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

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...

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...

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.

"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.

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...

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...

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!

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...

Cukes not Nukes

Also, check out "Bikes Not Bombs"...and "Healthcare Not Warfare"...

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...

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...